Eye on the Prize
by crimsonpolicegirl
Summary: Stephanie has come back to Lazy Town to live with her Uncle after an earthquake devastated her hometown and claimed the lives of her parents before her 21st Birthday. She's kept a certain secret her whole life, one that only her Uncle knows. But now that she's going to live permanently in Lazy Town, how long will it be till someone finds out what it is? (eventual SportaSteph)
1. Welcome (back) to Lazy Town

Author's Note: Of course a huge thank you goes to Magnus Scheving for his wonderful creation. No copyright infringement intended this is just something that's been swimming about in my head for a while now after reading some of the fantastic fanfics already out there and binge-watching the original 2 seasons of the show. This is the first fanfic I have written in a long time, so enjoy!

* * *

 **Welcome (Back) to Lazy Town**

Stephanie had taken a window seat on the second train of her trip; she was heading back to Lazy Town and was finally nearing her destination. It had taken some time, but she'd finally grown out of her all-pink phase. She was wearing skinny blue jeans with white sneakers, a white tank, and a blush pink cardigan. The only thing that was still super vibrant pink was her hair, although now instead of being a short bob, it tapered just a little over her shoulders. Subconsciously she twirled a few front strands around her finger as she began to flick through one of the first diaries she'd taken with her when she'd first arrived in Lazy Town.

 ** _Diary Entry #2_**

 _Dear Diary: There's always a way! It was Sportacular Spectacle Day today, and Sportacus was meant to perform an awesome – I mean, Spectacular! – soccer stunt. Only, Robbie Rotten happened. He seems to enjoy ruining our fun, just like he tried doing the first day I got here. He tricked Sportacus into wearing a different pair of boots, that were remotely controlled by him! He couldn't stand still or do anything without his feet going wild and causing him to lose balance. It was horrible to see him flailing around like a fish out of water. I suggested he try walking on his hands, and oh wow, he was amazing! I have no idea how he can do that for so long… Must be like a superpower._

Little smirks every so often snuck across her lips as she read, easily able to mentally re-live everything she'd written even though she'd only been 10 or so at the start. It didn't seem like all that long ago, and yet it really had been just over a whole decade since she'd first stepped foot in her Uncle's house.

 ** _Diary Entry #23_**

 _Dear Diary: I was scared today. Not for myself, but for Sportacus. Robbie went a little too far this time, and set up a horrible machine that was able to zap memories right out of your head; I hate to give him credit, though, but he was smart enough to set it up in an obstacle course that Sportacus would never have been able to resist. I probably would have run through it too, if it had been me. But in the end, as always, things worked out, and Robbie inadvertently caused Sportacus' memory to return by capturing us in a cage, which of course set off the crystal, and it jogged his memory. Hopefully, Robbie will lay low for a while after this stunt._

A sad ghost of a smile slipped across Stephanie's features as she flicked through the pages. Every school holidays she'd returned to spend time with her Uncle and her friends, and it was something she always looked forward to. She loved how quaint the town was; everyone knew everyone and it was a safe and encouraging environment, the kids were allowed to venture about as they liked because they never caused any real trouble, and, well, Sportacus was always around to lend a hand. The sad smile turned into a sheepish one and she had to glance out of the train window and away from the page she'd turned to.

 ** _Diary Entry #36_**

 _Dear Diary: I'm not sure how I feel about today… Of course, Robbie was up to his old tricks, but this one was… Well, I didn't mind it. In fact, some of his inventions are quite genius, and it makes me wonder why he doesn't do something more productive, but I suppose I don't know enough about him, really. Anyway, he uh… Made a machine that reverted Sportacus back to a kid. A kid close to my age, I'd guess. He was a pretty cute kid, too, I won't lie. Of course, we all helped figure out what happen and he was able to get back to his usual self before the machine could self-destruct, but…_ _I wish it had been destroyed before he could. Is that horrible of me? I just…_

The last sentence and a half were scribbled out. Stephanie closed the old pink diary with a quiet sigh and took another look out of the window just as the grey clouds overhead opened up. Raindrops pelted the train as it sped through the countryside, and whilst there was a time when a rainy day would have made her sad, a content smile spread across her face as she pulled her cardigan around her comfortably. There was probably still another 30 minutes of her train ride left, so she turned her attention back to the diary in her lap, opening it again.

 ** _Diary Entry #41_**

 _Dear Diary: Trixie, Ziggy, and I were practising tightrope walking this morning. Trixie made it look so easy, and then Ziggy tried and really freaked out. I don't blame him. It wasn't that high, true, but there is still that nagging fear of falling. I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was scared too, so I lied instead. I felt bad for doing that to my friends but Trixie can really harp on sometimes when she gets into her teasing moods and I really didn't want to deal with that. Anyway, we agreed we should set up a Circus! We should have known it was too good to be true when that Ring Master showed up out of nowhere, and in the end, of course, it turned out to be Robbie Rotten; his disguises are getting better, though, I must admit. He should really get into acting instead of messing with us all the time. It was only thanks to Sportacus being such a quick thinker that we were all able to walk out of that tent in one piece. I did really enjoy the idea of a circus though… Hmm. Might have to look into that when I go back home._

That had definitely been a crazy experience, but one that would always stick with her, as it had led her to take up gymnastics. But also because it was Sportacus' words to Ziggy – and Ziggy's later rephrasing of them – that had really struck her that day. 'You don't have to be brave all at once. Just be brave one little step at a time.' Honestly, it was probably the best advice she'd ever had, even to this day. It had got her through so many obstacles in life, and she was forever grateful. Especially recently.

Despite having had such an easy start at life, with all the support and encouragement she could ever hope for, the start to her young adult life was definitely showing signs of being a bit of a rollercoaster. Whilst she had graduated with top marks in school, and had even won a variety of awards for dancing and gymnastics, she always longed for the quiet and relaxed life Lazy Town offered.

Whilst she had been out of town at a Gymnastic meet and contest, an earthquake had devastated her hometown. Many buildings had been totalled, and every day there were reports of more deaths. Due to the damages to the city, Stephanie had been unable to return home, but what really got her in a tizzy was the fact neither of her parents nor any neighbours, were answering her calls. She tried everything she could to get back home. Eventually, one of the older ladies that lived on the street behind her parents' place gave her a call. Stephanie could tell immediately by her tone of voice that the news she was about to share was the worst.

He parents had been trying to rescue the family that lived across the street - a young couple with twin 6-year-old girls whom Stephanie had babysat a few times – who had become trapped in the rubble. Apparently, the four of them got out safely, with a few scratches and minimal breaks, but… Her parents…

Snapped from her daze from the feeling of the train's brakes being applied, Stephanie sat up in her seat and looked out the window across the aisle with a grin on her lips. Grabbing her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder, she got up and headed to the door, hand eagerly ready to open it once the train had come to a complete stop.

Only one person knew she was coming, although that person was terrible at keeping even the smallest bland secret, so she wasn't surprised at all when beside her Uncle, holding an umbrella, was Ziggy. Without a word she dashed off the train and ran for them, almost tripping in excitement into her Uncle's waiting arms as he and Ziggy called her name out in unison.

 **"Stephanie!"**

 **"Oh Stephanie, it is so good to see you again my dear."**

 **"Hi Uncle Milford, hi Ziggy! It's good to be back."** She murmured against him as she gave a bit of a squeeze with her hug. She'd always loved his hugs. They were big, warm, and made her feel like there was nothing wrong in the world.

She stepped back and gave Ziggy a smile and a hug as well; he'd grown so much since the last they'd seen each other that they were more or less the same height now. He still looked like himself though, despite the growth spurt and the more casual clothing and the blond hair now tied back in a ponytail.

 **"We missed you so much, Stephanie! The Mayor… It's not his fault… I nagged him to tell me! I could see he was trying not to tell anyone something and I kinda hoped it had something to do with you."**

 **"It's OK Ziggy,"** Stephanie gave a quiet laugh at his apology as she saw her Uncle give one of his nervous chuckles, **"I didn't expect it to stay a secret for long."**

 **"I'm… I'm sorry, Stephanie. We all are. If there's anything we can do – or not do – just say, okay?"** His tone turned more serious as he handed Milford the umbrella so he could hold her hands and then locked eyes with her; it almost seemed like his baby blues were staring right into her soul. For the first time since she'd left everything behind her, Stephanie felt her emotions catch in her throat.

 **"T-thanks, Ziggy… I appreciate it."** She gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hands in thanks before taking a step back and looking at her Uncle as he cleared his throat.

 **"Let's go get you inside where it's warm and dry, and get you some lunch."** At the mention of lunch, Ziggy's eyes widened and a huge excited grin spread across his face. He still loved his food, that was clear. With an awkward laugh as she swallowed the uncomfortable lump in her throat, Stephanie nodded and the pair followed her Uncle back into his house, where the smell of freshly baking pastries filled the kitchen and made her stomach growl loudly.

* * *

 _Wait, who was that?! Was that… No, couldn't have been… But maybe?_

Robbie adjusted his periscope as the sound of a train rattling into the station had disturbed his research, and focused it just in time to catch sight of a wet mop of pink hair dashing past.

 **"No… Nooo** no no **no…."**

He squinted carefully but was unable to catch sight of her face, but that hair! And… He turned the periscope to see what or who was in the direction she was headed, and immediately his stomach churned. The Mayor and the blond-haired candy lover were standing with open arms and called out her name. Robbie felt the blood drain from his face and he groaned.

 **"…She's back."**


	2. Where I Belong

Author's Note: This is a longer chapter, just to cover all of the meetings and catching up with friends. Hope it isn't too boring! We'll start getting into the more exciting things over the next few chapters now most of the catch-up is done.

* * *

 **Where I Belong**

The rain showed no signs of easing up, but they'd made it inside just before it really started to pelt down. The smell of freshly baked pastries was intoxicating and both Stephanie and Ziggy shared the same level of excitement at the idea of eating as much as they could the moment Milford uncovered the tray that was sitting on the bench beside the oven. Clearly, he had just finished baking before he and Ziggy had gone out to the train station to meet her.

 **"** **Oh my gosh, Uncle, these smell divine!"** Stephanie cooed eagerly, eyeing off the apple Danish corner of the tray. They were her favourite little treats, mixing the delicious taste of apples with the sweetness of pastry, whilst still being one of the more healthy options. Even before she'd come to Lazy Town the first time, she'd been a healthy kid, loving her fruits and vegetables and rarely ever being a picky eater, and only indulging in sweets or junk foods on rare occasion.

The three sat around the kitchen bench for some time, enjoying their lunch and exchanging stories and playing catch-up on important things. Milford filled her in first on the general happenings of the town first. Being such a small remote place, there was very little that had changed over the years. He had consistently kept the Mayor's role, largely due to the fact that everyone in town was happy with how things were run; it helped, too, that Milford was one of the few people in a political role that well and truly cared about his town and its people. There was nothing in particular that required noting, though, except the percentage of accidents had dropped over the years. Stephanie guessed that was largely due to Sportacus's influence over the years, resulting in people becoming more aware and less clumsy.

She seemed to zone out of the conversation – although she was only listening, not talking – as she wondered what their slightly-above-average hero was up to these days. She hadn't thought to look up in the sky to see if his ship was there, she'd been too focused on running to her Uncle, but the fact it was raining probably meant the clouds would have concealed it anyway. A sudden thought made her heart sink a little: if the rate of accidents was down, maybe he felt that Lazy Town no longer needed him; perhaps another child had no friends to play with and had written him a letter, just as she had done.

Ziggy snapped her back to reality though as he touched her arm, causing her to startle a moment but she giggled softly at the surprised look on his face. Obviously, she had zoned out a little more than she'd meant to and maybe he'd asked her a question or something that warranted a reaction from her, but instead of responding all she'd been doing was staring blankly across the kitchen in a daze.

 **"You alright, Steph?"**

 **"** **Ah, sorry Ziggy. My train of thought got a bit derailed… Did you ask me something?**

Ziggy laughed softly and shook his head with a half goofy smile. **"Ha, it's alright. I just asked if you wanted to go meet up with the others. They dunno you're here yet, so it'd be a pretty awesome surprise for them all. That is if you want to. I mean, I know it's still raining and you probably wanna spend time with your Uncle…"**

Stephanie giggled and put her hand over the one Ziggy had placed on her arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze with a grin. **"It's alright, Ziggy. I'm not going away anymore. I'm here to stay, permanently."**

At this, his blue eyes lit up and noticed that Milford was nodding his head on Stephanie's other side. The man got to his feet and began to clean up from their lunch, putting away the leftover pastries and tidying up their plates in the sink as he spoke over his shoulder.

 **"** **Your old room is ready for you whenever you want it, my dear. There will be plenty of time for us to spend together, so go and enjoy yourself. Surprise your friends, I'm sure they'll all be thrilled to see you."**

 **"** **Thanks, Uncle. Wait a minute for me Zig and I'll go put my stuff away and put on some boots."** Stephanie watched him nod eagerly before she grabbed her bag that she'd put by the front door, and headed down the hall into her old room.

Over the years of her staying in Lazy Town, she'd of course grown out of her old bed, and during the stay before last her Uncle had brought her a new bed and helped her repaint the room as well. Now, instead of that bright sunflower yellow that it once was, the walls were a light baby blue with flower motifs along the very top and bottom. The carpet had also been redone at some point (this must have happened whilst she was away), as it was now a soft plush off-white type. In the left corner was still her old pink dresser, and to the left was the newer white wood framed double bed.

A content smile tickled her lips as she walked in, putting her bag on the bed before sitting on it and taking off her sneakers. She hadn't brought much with her, as she'd just wanted to leave everything behind; in her bag was a couple of pairs of clothing like what she already wore, plus typical toiletries and some books like her old diaries. She still had a lot of stuff in Lazy Town anyway. Getting up, she walked over to the wardrobe and slid open the door, finding some clothes from her last time, as well as at least one of her old gaudy pink cheerleader dresses.

Thankfully, her feet had stopped growing a while back, so she knew a few pairs of shoes – her boots included – would still fit. So she grabbed out a pair of black calf-high Docs and pulled them on before switching out her blush pink cardigan for a similarly coloured jacket that would better keep her dry in the rain.

Just as she was about to leave the room, she caught sight of herself in the mirror on the dresser and tidied up her hair a bit; fixing the ends at the front so they hung over the jacket nicely, and ensuring that it all sat nice and kept her ears covered. Then she did a quick inspection of her face – her skin had always behaved really well, something many a female friend had been jealous of – then smiled at herself. She quickly grabbed her wallet and phone from her bag and tucked them into her back pockets before heading back out to the kitchen where Ziggy was awaiting her by the door, umbrella ready.

 **"** **I'll see you later, Uncle. Thank you so much for the pastries! I'll call if I'll be late."**

 **"** **Don't stress about me, ok, go and enjoy yourself and surprise all of your friends."**

 **"** **I'll get her home before 10, Mr Meanswell."**

At Ziggy's playful jest, the trio laughed and Stephanie gave his shoulder a gentle punch before she went and gave her Uncle a hug before leaving. She did feel a little bad that she'd only just arrived and had only stayed long enough to eat, but her Uncle was such a good-natured man and she knew that he understood that her friends would be just as excited to see her back as he had been.

 **"** **I know they're all gonna be so excited to see you. I was really surprised the Mayor was able to actually keep a secret – well, mostly."** Ziggy mused as they headed down the street, ensuring he kept the umbrella between them so they'd both stay as dry as possible. Not that he cared if he was wet or dry, he loved playing in the rain even now.

 **"** **Hah, yeah, not going to lie, I did find that a bit surprising too. Remember that time that he kept blurting out that Sportacus was going to win that trophy, and he had to put the rope tassel in his mouth?"** Stephanie giggled and Ziggy nodded his head after a brief moment of thought as he seemed to try and recall that moment. Unlike Stephanie, the other kids hadn't been the types to keep diaries or records of things; except maybe Pixel, given he had quite a few recordings of some of their adventures.

 **"** **Yeah, that was pretty funny. As I said earlier, I could see he was pretty pent up about something, like he was going to burst at the seams if he held it in any longer. So when I eventually convinced him to tell me and he said you were coming back... Boy, I was so excited! But he never said you were staying permanently… Are you really?!"**

Stephanie nodded and gave him a sincere smile, **"There's nothing in the city for me. I mean, sure, I could do a huge range of things with my studies or dancing or gymnastics but… Without that support there,"** she paused sadly for a moment and glanced out at the muddy sports field as they walked past it. A sad nostalgic smile tugged at the left corner of her mouth as she imagined all of her friends and herself as 6-to-10-year-olds running about with Sportacus, playing soccer or baseball, or generally just goofing off. She felt Ziggy's hand rest on her shoulder and she leaned into him in a semi-hug. **"I missed Lazy Town and how relaxed everything and everyone is here. Everything here feels like it goes at a slower pace than in the city as if you can really get the most out of your day here."**

Ziggy had noticed her drift off into a daze again and felt a heartstring tug a bit in sympathy, so he'd done the only thing he could really do: give her a hug. Well, half of one, anyway. He smiled though as he listened to her explain why she'd wanted to come back, why she wanted to stay here forever and not leave again. It made him grin, despite the circumstances that helped lead her to this decision.

 **"** **HEY, ZIGGY! WHAT'RE YOU… WAIT, IS THAT… PINKY?!"**

An over-excited voice boomed out from a nearby window, causing them both to jump in surprise and turn around to see who it was. For a moment, neither could see anyone, until Ziggy looked over at Pixel's house just further down the street near the end of the sports field. He laughed, and Stephanie followed his line of sight until she burst out laughing.

Practically hanging out of the top window was a dark-haired tanned girl, waving frantically at them and constantly screaming out **"PINKY'S BACK!"**

 **"Race you there?"**

Stephanie challenged Ziggy with a devious grin, to which at first he seemed to be caught off-guard, before he matched her grin and nodded, **"You're on!"**

The moment he folded the umbrella, it was go-time. They took off, but despite the fact Ziggy had grown out of his excessive love of candy and had taken working out more seriously and even joined the school's soccer team, Stephanie was just that little bit better. Not surprising, given she had naturally been more athletic than him and her years spent dancing and doing gymnastics had given her amazing stamina. So it was expected that she would beat him; that said, though, he hadn't gone all-out. Not with everything being so wet.

The moment Stephanie reached Pixel's door it was swung open and she was just about tackled to the ground by Trixie. The girl basically launched herself at her friend, throwing her arms around Stephanie and causing her to stumble backwards.

 **"** **Trixie!"** Stephanie squeaked in surprise, eyes wide as she felt herself losing balance and realised she was unable to maintain her footing on the wet front step. Thankfully, though, Ziggy came up behind her quickly and caught them both as if they'd been doing a trust fall.

 **"** **Careful Trix, you don't wanna break her on her first day back."**

 **"** **Pssh, she can handle it."** Trixie basically cackled as she took a step back, grinning even bigger than Ziggy had been at the train station. Stephanie could do nothing but laugh as she gained her balance again, fixing her hair and clothes up once she was able. **"C'mon, the guys are upstairs."**

It was both a surprise and not, at the same time, that both Trixie and Stingy were hanging out in Pixel's room like in the past. Last time she'd been here, Pixel had been at University still and Stingy was on some exotic holiday overseas, so Ziggy and Trixie had kept her entertained in their own ways, which was usually with random sports matches or movie nights or random craft projects. Trixie really had a natural talent for art once she'd stopped simply scribbling graffiti on things, and of course, Ziggy was still a child-at-heart and loved when he could make things.

Whilst Ziggy sorted out the umbrella, shaking it off and putting it somewhere it wouldn't cause a puddle inside, Trixie took Stephanie's hand and basically dragged her up the stairs. Pixel had moved most of his stuff out of his room – which did still have a lot of stuff, true – into the upstairs living room he'd converted into a giant computer room. There were large and small screens alike, spread out over two whole walls, whilst a giant TV was against another with a long comfortable-looking cream coloured couch adorned with pale mint coloured cushions.

Pixel was at his desk, eyes darting from one screen to another as he seemed totally absorbed in what he was doing, whilst Stingy was curled comfortably into one corner of the couch, hugging one of the cushions as he read a book. The moment the door swung open, however, and Trixie lead Stephanie in, the boys looked over and stopped what they were doing to cry her name out in unison.

 **"** **Stephanie!"**

 **"** **Hi guys, it's so good to see you again!"**

Stingy was the first to get up, likely because he was closer than Pixel, and pulled her into a hug. Given it had been longer since she'd last seen Pixel and Stingy in person than the others, she was surprised at how little they had changed. Stingy was still proper skinny but had some subtle muscle definition, and still wore his hair the same, only now it had some lighter streaks in it; the only thing that was an obvious change was that he wore his glasses permanently now. He did look dashing in them, though, but Stingy looked dashing in anything he wore.

Pixel had the biggest growth spurt of them all, and if he wasn't such a tech guy, he'd have easily been able to pass as a basketballer. He still kept his hair short, but it had lost some of its harsh orange tones and was a little darker, verging on a light brown. Of course, he still wore his headset, but he had to. For a long time when they were kids, they'd all just thought that it was a regular headset he liked to wear, but one day they'd found out that he actually had to wear it because he'd been born deaf. Over the years, as he'd really found his love of technology, he'd started to develop gizmos and gadgets that would help not only himself, but others like him as well, and so he had constantly improved upon the headset so that it was helpful for more than just hearing better.

 **"** **You never told us you were coming back. Your uncle never mentioned anything either… Didn't he know?"** Pixel asked curiously as he walked over, wrapping Stephanie in a hug when Stingy eventually released her; he always gave the longest hugs because he hated letting go. They all knew how bad Milford Meanswell was at keeping secrets.

Stephanie laughed softly, **"Oh, he knew,"** as terrible as her Uncle is at keeping secrets, she knows that he will always keep the really important private ones, **"I think Ziggy getting it out of him helped him keep it from everyone else."** She bit her bottom lip with a sheepish smile as all three friends turned to glare at Ziggy with open mouths that he had known but also not told them. The blond gave a grin and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

 **"** **I thought it would be more exciting this way!"** He defended himself as Trixie punched his arm, harder than the playful one Stephanie had given him earlier, to which he rubbed the spot afterwards. **"And the best part…"** He trailed off to allow Stephanie to finish.

 **"** **I'm staying. Forever."**

 **"** **For how long?"** Stingy's eyes went wide, but there was a playful dare to his tone.

 **"** **Forever!"** She caught on to Stingy's suggestion and mimicked Robbie Rotten as she said it before they all burst out laughing, each remembering in perfect clarity exactly how he used to say it.

* * *

They spent the afternoon catching up and exchanging stories, Stephanie telling them of the more fun and exciting things she'd done (whilst trying not to make herself sad or think too much about her parents), and then the others all updating each other on things they'd been doing. Stingy had become an avid wildlife photojournalist and had often been away overseas, but decided to come back and do a special article on the rather unique flora and fauna in and around Lazy Town; Pixel was working on a collaboration with the Hospital in the nearest main town, Greenshore, to update some of their equipment and work on improvements to certain machines to help with a huge variety of things (the way he'd explained it was a bit too technical, honestly); Trixie was a freelance artist and web designer, and was attending LTC – Lazy Town College – for it. Ziggy, the youngest of them, was still in High School, but he knew that he wanted to become a Personal Trainer; Stephanie put that down to Sportacus' influence, given the huge impact he'd had on them as kids, and how impressionable Ziggy was.

 **"** **Sooo, are you seeing anyone yet, Pinky?"** Of course, Trixie wanted all the juicy details, and saw her friends cheek flush, **"Oh my gosh, you are?!"** Trixie's excitement was soon extinguished, however, when Stephanie shook her head slowly.

 **"** **No, I'm not. I mean, I was pretty close to someone back home but… Not enough to be like that. Besides, I was a bit preoccupied with everything."** She sounded a little sad towards the end, although her words had been in reference to all of her activities, not her parents' death. Trixie gave an apologetic smile and wrapped an arm around her friend, pulling her in so they were more or less snuggled together on the couch.

 **"** **Sorry hun, I didn't mean it like that. You know that."**

Stephanie nodded and gave her friend a reassuring smile. That was one thing Trixie had never grown out of: speaking before thinking. She'd gotten better, true, but was still pretty rough around the edges at times. But that was one thing Stephanie loved about her because she would always tell things how they were and wouldn't beat around the bush to get to a point. If you needed to hear something but others were afraid to say it or weren't too sure, you could almost guarantee that Trixie would be the one to say it, even if it hurt a bit.

 **"** **Hey, if none of us knew you were coming back, that would mean Sportacus doesn't know either!"**

Stingy's words caught Stephanie by surprise and she sat up again, turning to look at him with a bit of a bewildered expression, **"He's still in Lazy Town?"** She watched Stingy nod, although it wasn't a terribly convincing nod, **"I thought he might have, y'know, found another town or something."** In a way, she sounded sad, but the bewilderment had turned to a happy smile.

 **"** **Well he's still stationed here, he's just not here at the moment. He's really had an impact on Lazy Town, being here for so long, and as the Mayor said earlier, the accident rates are way down. He does go out to Greenshore sometimes when he needs to, but at the moment he's way up north. He didn't say much before he left, just that he had to go home for something and he'd be back within a week."**

Stephanie nodded slowly as she listened to Ziggy explain that their beloved childhood hero was still around, only that he was also helping the people of Greenshore. What intrigued her though was that he was… On holiday? That was the best way she could explain it to herself as. Ziggy had used the word 'home' so, wait, that would mean he was probably visiting family. Her eyes seemed to glaze over a little as she zoned out, wondering what type of a family he had and if they missed him after he'd been away for so long. He'd devoted so much of his life here, she couldn't imagine not seeing her family for that long. Yet now...

 **"** **Steeeephanieeeeee."** Trixie waved her hand in front of her friends face to try and get her to snap back into reality whilst Ziggy chuckled. He'd noticed how much she'd been zoning out since arriving, and wondered if there was more on her mind than just wanting to get through the loss of her parents.

 **"** **Oh, yeah, sorry. I seem to be easily distracted today."** She apologised sheepishly.

 **"** **Uhuh, thinking about all those muscles, I bet."**

 **"** **Trixie!"** Stephanie picked up one of the cushions and whacked the brunette with it as her cheeks flushed hard, and all the guys just laughed. They'd all known, some earlier than others, that there'd been something special between Stephanie and Sportacus, and they'd all expected that once their pink friend had turned 18 that something would finally happen.

But it didn't.

* * *

A rumble in the clouds overhead seemed to echo around, sounding much like thunder from the world beneath, but it was far from thunder. Rather, it was the blue and white airship of Lazy Town's slightly-above-average Hero, returning from his travels up north. He was glad to be back, as it made him anxious to be away for too long, even though the citizens of Lazy Town had become much better at keeping out of trouble; it helped, too, that Robbie Rotten rarely got up to his old tricks and schemes. All of that seemed to ease off gradually as the kids had grown older and were less gullible.

Unfortunately, upon his return, there were rain clouds covering Lazy Town that prevented his near-perfect birds-eye-view of the town. And so, for a while, he simply sat in the pilot seat and leant back, admiring the breathtaking view of the world above the clouds as the sun began to set.


	3. An Invitation

**An Invitation**

Stephanie had enjoyed spending the afternoon with her friends at Pixel's place until well into the evening when she decided it was probably best to head back home to have a nice quiet dinner with her Uncle. Ziggy offered to walk her home, but the rain had eased up and some of the clouds had parted now, so she simply smiled and politely declined. As she walked out the door she gave her Uncle a quick call just to let her know she was on her way back, and it sounded like he was already busy in the kitchen.

Tucking her phone back into her pocket, she stepped out onto the footpath and pulled her jacket in a little tighter as a cool after-rain breeze brushed past her. She took in a deep breath, always having loved the smell of rain and the petrichor smell that was left in its wake. From the kitchen sounds she'd heard when she was on the phone, it seemed likely that her Uncle had only just started to prepare dinner, so she wasn't in any particular rush to get home. Rather, she walked slowly, enjoying the intense fresh air and admiring how beautiful Lazy Town looked at twilight.

Some of the clouds above had parted enough that the remnants of sunlight were able to stream through, and shone down on her as she walked along the edges of the sports field. She paused for a while and leant against the wall with her arms crossed as support, and a nostalgic smile slowly etched its way onto her face. She was so lost in thought that she paid no attention to the sounds of the world around her, and even as the remaining sunlight shimmered away into nothingness, it didn't occur that something had actually blocked them as opposed to them naturally disappearing beyond the horizon, and nor had she heard the whooshing movement or footsteps of someone approaching.

 **"** **Care for some company?"**

The question itself isn't what snapped Stephanie from her thoughts, it was the voice that spoke it. It was smooth and beautiful, and she could never deny that that accent made her knees feel weak. Her features lit up as she spun around, chocolate eyes locking with the most stunning periwinkle blues she had ever encountered. A huge grin was plastered across her face as she looked at him; he hadn't changed, not a bit. He even wore the same suit, although there were a few differences here and there in that regard. But physically, he had not changed a bit.

Sportacus had been admiring the last of the sunset when he'd watched how the clouds had parted, and just happened to spot that familiar mass of pink hair walking down below. He'd been surprised, at first, confused as well, doubtful that it was Stephanie, that she was back but no one had said anything, but then no one else in town had that vibrant hair; in fact, he was yet to meet anyone else with hair like that. Something in him told him it was indeed Stephanie, though, and he moved his airship a bit closer to the ground before leaping from it and running towards her – in the most casual way he could manage, in case it wasn't her. But as he got close enough he could see it was, and something in him seemed to spark him up, enough to speak out and interrupt her thoughts. The way she smiled at him made his heart race.

That smile. The way his cheeks crinkled on either side of his mouth whenever he gave that big grin of his made her heart flutter. She realised she was staring and tried to giggle it off awkwardly. Thankfully, he opened his arms and motioned for her to come to him, and so she closed the distance between them in a short run. Rather than just hug her like any normal person, though, he wrapped his arms around her and spun her around as they both laughed. In some ways it made her feel like she was a kid again, with the ease that he twirled her, and she was still grinning like an idiot when he finally put her down.

 **"** **I thought you'd gone home?"**

The question came out of both their mouths at the same time, and for a brief moment, there was silence before they laughed again. Sportacus shook his head and motioned for Stephanie to go first.

 **"** **I uh… Yeah."** She didn't know if he knew about her family, but if he'd asked her that question, it was likely that he didn't. She sighed softly and returned to leaning on the sports field wall, trying to not look as sad as she suddenly felt, **"I did. I was at a competition for Gymnastics,"** she looked up to see a surprised – and impressed – look on his face that she'd kept up with it throughout her schooling, **"there was an earthquake in my hometown while I was gone. My area got hit pretty bad and… my parents…"**

She had to stop as a lump formed in her throat and tears threatened to sting her eyes. She heard a mumbled _'Oh Stephanie'_ beside her as she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. **"They were ok, to start… But the family across the street were trapped and they went to go help. The family got out mostly ok, but their house… my parents were… are…"**

Sportacus pulled her in against him, wrapping both arms around her gently. Stephanie didn't object, allowing herself to be held close, breathing in deeply against his shoulder as she tried to calm herself down again before she ended up a bawling mess. She could feel a hand stroking her hair, and concentrated on the calming feeling it generated until she felt more like herself again and was confident enough to step back from the safety of his embrace.

 **"** **Thank you. I… I needed that."** She whispered softly, looking down in embarrassment, but smiling at him warmly when he used a hand to gently lift her chin up. **"N-now, what about you. Ziggy told me you had gone up north, to go home for something… or something?"** There was a curiosity in her voice that she couldn't deny, but she also wanted to change the subject off of herself.

He gave a small nod and a short thoughtful hum, **"Just had to visit some old friends. Every decade we have a sort of reunion if we can all make it. But none of us can stay away for long so we try and keep it brief."** He chuckled a little when he noticed how her neat eyebrows furrowed together in curious confusion.

 **"** **None of you can stay away… Your friends are like.. you?"**

 **"** **Yes, and no. Some of them are, but we're all like a long-distance family. We're all kept busy, and usually just write to each other. Although the technological advancements these days helps as well, with video calls and such, it's just not the same as sitting around a campfire."**

Despite his chuckle, Stephanie felt sad again. His life as a town hero really did keep him from his friends and family in his hometown… Wherever that was. He noticed the look on her face though, and touched her shoulder gently and gave another of his heart-melting smiles.

 **"** **Would you like me to walk you home?"**

 **"** **Sure."**

Stephanie couldn't help but smile back at him, although now it was mostly in amusement, given that her home was just up the street from where they stood at the sports field, and slightly around the corner from the Town Hall; it would literally take just a couple of minutes. But she wasn't going to object to the offer, finding that he still seemed to radiate a feeling of safety even though she was fully capable of handling things herself. Besides, it was a few extra minutes she could spend in his company.

It was as they came to a stop outside of her Uncle's house that she had an idea, **"Once the ground dries up, how about we organise a campout?! I'm sure the others would love it as well. T-that is… If you want."**

Sportacus nodded, rather eagerly too, **"That would be fantastic, Stephanie! I'll see if I can scout out a good place in the woods for camping, too."**

Hearing voices outside summoned Milford to open his door, where he gave a surprised noise at seeing Sportacus standing before Stephanie. **"Oh, Sportacus! I didn't know you were back."**

 **"** **Yes, I got back this afternoon whilst it was still raining. I noticed Stephanie when the rain cleared. You should have said she was coming back, I would have come back sooner."**

At that comment, Stephanie blushed and shook her head, **"Oh hush, it's important that you get away sometimes too."** She chided playfully, **"I didn't want to cause a big fuss, because I know that some people would have set up a party and…"** she trailed off with a sigh, and Sportacus nodded his head in understanding.

 **"** **Sometimes parties are the last thing you want."**

 **"** **Yeah."**

 **"** **Right, well, I should be off!"**

 **"** **You can stay for dinner if you like, Sportacus, I made too much, I think."**

 **"** **Thank you, Mayor, but it's alright. You and Stephanie should have the night to yourselves. I shall see you both around…"** Sportacus turned to leave, then paused and turned back to Stephanie as Milford retreated back inside the house, **"Oh, here you go, Stephanie. It's quicker to contact me with this than the old post system. Although if you prefer writing still, that's okay too."** There was a playful hint to his voice at the mention of writing letters as he handed her a little chip that looked like it was designed to fit into her phone.

 **"** **Thanks, Sportacus. I'll keep you updated about that campout."** She was actually really glad that he'd accepted the idea, and was really looking forward to it now. She waved him off, and as he flipped and jumped about – even despite the wet – she turned and went inside to have dinner with her Uncle.

* * *

Back in his airship and preparing himself some semblance of dinner – he wasn't particularly hungry, but knew he still had to eat something – Sportacus couldn't help but be concerned. The small breakdown Stephanie had had in his arms unsettled him; he hated seeing her sad as a kid but seeing her so upset as a young adult seemed to hurt more. But perhaps that was due to the reason she was upset. Losing her parents in an accident like that made his heart ache, and he couldn't help but think about the 'what ifs' and 'buts' of the situation.

He shook his head briskly to shake the thoughts. He knew he couldn't risk beating himself up with those types of thoughts, and besides, he doubted Stephanie would have wanted him hanging around her whilst she was trying to live her life.

And what a life she had. She was still a brilliant dancer, and he had been pleasantly surprised that she had kept going with Gymnastics as well. He hadn't failed to notice how her lithe build had some more enhanced muscles since the last he'd seen her. And it had been a while since he'd last seen Stephanie, as the last time she was out here he had been wrapped up in an investigation that kept him busy; but in the end, the culprit was found. The last time he'd actually properly been able to spend time with her – others were around too, though, it wasn't like they were alone or anything - was her 18th birthday party. That was almost 3 years ago now.

Almost exactly 3 years ago!

The realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks that it would be her 21st birthday soon. He stopped chopping up vegetables and quickly dashed over to his calendar, flicking through it with rough determination. 10 days.

Just 10 more days until Stephanie's 21st!

* * *

After dinner and helping to do the dishes, and spending some generally relaxing quality time with her Uncle watching some old TV show, Stephanie retreated to her bedroom and laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a long day, full of mostly good feelings, with a few sad ones, but she wouldn't have had her first day back go any other way. She was exhausted, though, that was for sure.

Deciding a shower was in order, she grabbed her toiletries from her bag and headed into the bathroom. A hot steamy shower was enough to relax her and warm her from the inside-out, plus the feeling of fresh clean hair was always amazing. She re-entered her room, towel drying her hair carefully, but it was still at that incredibly damp stage where it was easy to see the shape of her ears.

She signed softly as she went to reach for her hairdryer, but then decided to leave it for the moment and she sat down at her dresser. Pulling her bag out from under it, she pulled out a blue notebook and laid it out before her, before she grabbed a pen and began to write.

 ** _New Diary Entry #1_**

 _I'm finally back in Lazy Town. It feels so good to be back, almost too good, really. It's like this place just washes away all my worries, so long as I don't think of things that make me sad, that is. Even though Uncle Milford was the only one that was meant to know I was coming, I'm glad Ziggy was with him at the train station too. It's so good to see everyone again, and they're all doing so well with their own lives too! It was great to see Sportacus again too, even if that little breakdown was really awkward… But he's got the kindest, biggest heart, and his hugs remind me of Uncle Milford's: they're big and warm and safe and seem to make me feel like there's nothing to worry about. I really hope the ground dries up soon so we can plan that campout, too! I'll check the forecast tomorrow and let the others know about it as well. I really hope they can all come, it'll be like we're all kids again!_

 **"** **Except we're not,"** Stephanie whispered to herself under her breath as she laid the pen down and closed the book, opening the top drawer and placing it and the pen in there before closing it again and walking over to her bed, laying down under the blankets and pulling them up close. **"We're definitely not."**

* * *

Author's Note: Oh hey, 2 chapters in one day? Couldn't help myself, I was on a roll.


	4. Sunrise

Author's Note: Another long chapter, but I really couldn't find a good place to break this one up given it's all happening around the same timeline. There's some cuteness at the end though to make up for it! ;3

* * *

 **Sunrise**

8:08? More like 11:08. He just couldn't sleep, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many imaginary sheep he counted or how many exercises he did to try and tire himself out. Nothing was working. It wasn't a case of his body not being tired, but rather his mind just would not stop ticking.

Sportacus was sat on the floor of his airship in a meditative position, or at least what remained of it as he gave up his attempts at meditating himself to sleep, with his vest and hat and goggles on the floor next to him. He sighed loudly as he ran a hand through his hair, pausing at the back of his neck as he hung his head forward, elbow resting on his knee.

He was beating himself up over Stephanie's parents. He knew he shouldn't, he'd repeated to himself over and over, but the way she had broken down in his arms was plaguing him. With a loud groan of self-irritation, he pushed himself up onto his feet and summoned his punching bag before grabbing the boxing gloves from his sports cabinet and pulling them on. He wasn't a violent person but sometimes the only way to work something out of his system was by taking everything out on a punching bag.

11:45 came and he finally decided to call it quits. He was drenched in sweat by this point and breathing a little more heavily than during his normal exercise routines.

 **"Shower..."** He walked over toward the panel that acted as both wall and bed but instead choosing either side, it sat in between, which allowed him to step behind it into the open space that lay behind. Although, it wasn't all just empty open space. Rather, it was a small room with a door on the left, and on the right. Peeling his tank off and tossing it into the clothes basket in the corner, he walked into the room on the right; the shower turned on automatically and soon the room was full of steam.

 **" 12:08. Better late than never, I suppose… "** Sportacus muttered to himself as he laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, allowing his eyes to drift slowly closed.

* * *

 ** _Diary Entry #3_**

 _It was Sports Day today! At first, the other kids didn't want to join in, even when I suggested it would be so cool if Sportacus would join our team, and even when he did show up and agreed! At least, at first. Eventually, they agreed, but the, of course, Robbie came in and tried to ruin everything again. He tries, he really does, but he's terrible at it. I think that he just wants to be involved but doesn't want to admit - or show – that he does. He did manage to trick Ziggy into giving Sportacus a sugar apple though, and he had a sugar meltdown! It was terrifying, honestly, because we didn't actually know that's what was happening straight away. He was still semi-conscious, sort of, because he kept reaching for me whenever I moved too far out of reach. We figured it out in the end though and got him a normal apple and he was back up on his feet in an instant and won the super race!_

Stephanie had woken up just before dawn, and whilst she was usually a fairly early riser, this was just too early. Not wanting to get up and move about making too much noise and waking her Uncle, she instead chose to flick through some of her old diaries again. So she sat cross-legged on her bed with her blankets bundled around her and a couple of the fluffy pink diaries spread out before her.

As she read over the third entry of her first book, she gave a small nostalgic smile with a silent laugh as she remembered at the end of the race how Sportacus had scooped her up and twirled her around. It was almost the same as their encounter last night. She sighed softly and stroked the page absentmindedly, her gaze wandering out of her window. It was still dark, but the sky was slowly beginning to lighten enough that she could see the giant blue airship floating in the clouds.

Pushing her books and blankets aside, Stephanie got up and changed quickly. She tossed her pyjamas onto her bed and pulled on her exercise clothes; ¾ white tights with a bright pink stripe down the outside of both legs, a pink crop with a white singlet over top, and a short-sleeved white hoodie. Then she grabbed her running shoes, which were undeniably similar to the ones she used to wear as a kid, and then scribbled a note to her Uncle saying she was going out for a jog and not to worry about breakfast for her. She left her room as quietly as she could, left the note on the kitchen bench, and left the house without ever disturbing her sleeping – and lightly snoring – uncle.

* * *

 **"This… Is… Ridiculous."**

Robbie groaned as he tossed and turned in bed, hatefully glaring at the clock on the wall whenever he looked at it. Which was basically every 30 seconds. When he eventually gave up trying to get to sleep and got up, it read 5 am. He dragged his feet as he trudged towards the fridge, grabbing out a piece of raspberry cheesecake and walking over to his fluffy orange chair.

It was as he sat down and was beginning to prod at the cake that his proximity alarm began to beep. **"Who in the… It's 5 am! Ugh, stupid Sportaflop."** He set his cake down on the side table and pushed himself up with a disgruntled groan and approached his periscope. Peering through it, he could see it was still pretty dark out, with only the faint hints of the clouds beginning to lighten. But he couldn't see Sportacus anywhere.

A deep frown squeezed his eyebrows together as he scanned around, even flicking the switch on the periscope that would rotate the view to the other locations he had set up, but still no Sportacus. **"Stupid thing… Broken again."** He grumbled through a yawn, but just as he was about to step away, a white and pink blur caught his attention. Quickly looking back through the viewfinder, the frown turned to surprise, and then to disgust.

Stephanie Meanswell.

What on earth was that pink tornado doing up at this ungodly hour?! She didn't seem the kind that would suffer insomnia as he did. For some reason, though, he seemed to be captivated by her. She no longer wore all-pink, sure, but that hair was still such an eyesore to the broody villain. Yet…

 **"Stop right there brain. Do not go there. Nope. Just go back to your cake and ignore her. Or, better yet, figure out her angle and get her to leave again!"** Robbie spoke to himself as he'd almost admitting to admiring how she had changed since she was a kid, how she'd grown into herself, and now without all that excessive pink clothing, she actually looked decent; pretty, even. **"Ugh."**

He had no idea why she was back, nor that she was staying permanently, but things always got more chaotic when she was here for some reason. Usually, it was her group of friends being all loud and crazy with games and parties, or Sportacus coming down from his blasted airship to do activities with them and all of that _dancing!_ Just about every time he spent time with those brats the pink thing and Sportakook always seemed to dance together. It made his stomach churn.

 **"Hi, Robbie."**

The feminine voice startled him and he physically jumped away from the periscope. He looked confused for a moment, then scrunched up his nose as he stepped back over to it and peered into it. He was met with warm chocolate eyes and a sickly sweet smile that made him groan in disgust. Over the years he'd worked on making his spy tubes more covert, but it seemed like he still had some more work to do if a simpleton like Stephanie had spotted it.

 **"What'd'ya want?"** He snarled disapprovingly.

 **"Nothing… Just thought I'd say hi. And,"**

 **"And? And what?!"** He interrupted rudely before she got a chance to continue.

 **"Sorry for disturbing you."**

 **"Yeah, right. Whatever Pinky, get lost."** He could hear her laughing quietly to herself and his frown deepened. **"What's so funny?!"** He demanded.

 **"Oh, nothing. Just… Some things never change. See ya later, Robbie!"**

Robbie poked his tongue out at the periscope as he watched the girl continue on her jog in the morning twilight, then turned back to walk over to his chair once more. As he sat down and picked up his cake, he realised he honestly didn't feel like eating it and sighed as he got back up again and returned it to the fridge.

 **"Some things never change, huh? We'll see about that."** With Stephanie's words repeating in his head, along with her insufferable giggling (although in truth he was hearing her 10-year-old giggle, not her soft laugh from before), he marched over to his workbench and laid out blank sheets of paper and grabbed a pencil. It was time to plan some fresh chaos.

* * *

Lazy Town looked so peaceful during twilight hours, even more so after it had been raining. Everything just seemed to glitter like the stars in the sky as the sun was beginning to prepare to peak over the horizon and illuminate the world below. 5 hours of sleep was better than none, at least, and Sportacus stood at the bay window of his ship as he munched on a pear. He looked down at the sports field, and a tiny smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he spotted her. She looked content, at least from what he could tell from this far up, as she jogged around the field. He wanted to go join her, but something told him not to; he didn't want to seem… pushy. She had just come back and was trying to leave a traumatising experience behind her, he didn't want to be in her face too much whilst she was still settling back in.

He was about to turn away from the window and go about his morning routine when he noticed her waving at someone. No, not someone, _him_. Stephanie had stopped jogging and was standing by one of the old benches, waving up at him. He chuckled to himself and gave her a wave back.

But why was she still waving? No, she wasn't, she was beckoning. He suddenly had an idea, and shouted for the ladder; it dropped down, right in front of Stephanie, but he didn't go down. No. Instead, it was a silent offer for her to come up to see him. Doing it this way gave him time to quickly get changed, as he was still just in the baggy blue sweatpants that he wore to bed.

Needless to say, Stephanie was rather surprised when the ladder came unravelling down towards her. She took a step out of the way, so it didn't knock into her, and she stood there waiting for a few moments… But he didn't appear. With a confused frown, she reached out to tentatively touch a step on the ladder, wondering what to do. Her inner gymnast screamed at her to climb it, and so she did. If he wasn't going to come down to her, she'd go up to him.

It took her a couple of minutes to climb it, as the ship was apparently up higher than it appeared, but as she neared the top, the platform lowered and there he stood, all smiles and muscles, holding a hand out to her. Stephanie reached out, a little unsure to start, given how high up they really were, but she knew he wouldn't let her fall – and she was confident enough in herself to not lose balance anyway.

 **"Morning, Stephanie!"**

 **"Good morning!"**

They greeted each other as the platform took them inside the airship. She'd been up here only once before, from memory, and that was when she had cracked a rib and fractured part of her arm as a young teen doing some gymnastic practice; Sportacus felt terrible that he hadn't been there to prevent it from happening, but he'd been rescuing someone else at the same time, and it all just happened too quickly, so he'd flown her out to Greenshore to the hospital with the airship.

It hadn't changed at all, just as he hadn't. Stephanie shook her head with a small laugh as she looked around, but before he had a chance to say anything, Sportacus stood behind her and covered her eyes with his hands.

 **"I want to show you something."** He whispered near her ear, which made her skin tingle and cheeks flush a little warm. She nodded consent and felt herself being moved slowly to the right – towards the bay window if she wasn't mistaken.

 **"What're you…"**

 **"You'll see."**

Stephanie sighed silently as she knew she wouldn't get an answer, and so she waited patiently for him to remove his hands from blocking her sight. At his instruction, she closed her eyes and felt his hands move away to rest on both of her shoulders. A few moments later, she heard his soft voice by her ear again.

 **"Now you can open."**

Slowly she opened her eyes, and at the same time, her mouth automatically fell agape at the sight that she was met with. Light rays beamed out from the horizon as if they were bursting forth from the earth and reaching out into the sky. As the sun began to peak, the few thin clouds that floated in the air were bathed in golden light and there was a soft haze that just made everything feel so magical.

She could practically feel Sportacus' smile behind her as she gasped in awe, but she didn't move. She stayed as still as a statue, captivated by the beauty of nature, all other senses seeming to go numb all at once.

 **"Beautiful, isn't it?"**

 **"Y-yeah…"**

A concerned frown creased his brows at the stutter in her voice, so he stepped around to her side to try and see her face, but her hair fell in the way. Without thinking, he reached out carefully and went to brush it back, as if to tuck it behind her ear. But as he did this, Stephanie snapped out of her statue-like state and turned, staring up at him with wide near-horrified eyes. It only lasted a moment before it was replaced with an embarrassed smile, but he knew he hadn't imagined that look.

 **"Sorry if I startled you."**

 **"Oh, no, sorry, it's not that… "** Stephanie blushed as she quickly ran her hand over that side of her hair to ensure it still sat neatly. She noticed the mixed confused and curious look in his eyes but she simply smiled sweetly at him. **"Thank you for showing me this,"** she nodded her head out towards the sunrise, **"It's nice to see the world from a different perspective once in a while."**

It certainly was. It would take another of Robbie's attempts at giving him amnesia to make him ever forget how stunning Stephanie looked against the sunrise. But he kept that to himself and simply nodded at her words.

 **"I thought it might cheer you up a bit. There is always beauty in the world, we need only seek it out."**

Stephanie raised an eyebrow before trying to hide a giggle, **"You're too thoughtful for your own good, Sportacus. You always have been. And speaking of always…!"** She walked over to him and stood with her hands on her hips, before gently prodding his chest with a finger, **"You always look the same. You have not changed at all. That's really rude."**

Sportacus suddenly looked like a bewildered puppy. It wasn't really because she'd laughed at the sappy line he'd said, but the way she stood before him and began to playfully accuse him of… Not changing? His bewilderment seemed to grow as she burst out laughing at the looks that crossed his face.

 **"I'm teasing, so you can stop looking at me like that!"** Stephanie shook her head with a playful laugh, watching him visibly relax at her words. Although, that look was probably the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. She hadn't really been teasing though, only about it being rude. She really didn't know why he always looked the same, like he hadn't aged in the whole near-11 years they'd known each other, and yet everyone else around him, like herself, showed the typical signs of ageing for their stages in life.

 **"Stephanie I… Would you like to have breakfast with me?"** He couldn't tell her. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Maybe someday, but not now. Instead he motioned his hand over to his table of fruits and vegetables, and grinned happily as she nodded agreement, so he grabbed out a couple of bowls and began to prepare a fruit salad; nothing he could say would stop her from helping him make it, though, so he didn't even try to argue. Instead, they spent time chatting about how much better Lazy Town was at staying out of trouble, and how he often goes out to Greenshore to help there, given it's a bigger town that naturally has far more people.

 **"So how come you haven't stationed yourself closer, wouldn't that be better and easier?"** Stephanie questioned before popping a piece of pineapple into her mouth, glancing across the bench at him curiously. Although she already knew the answer to the question, she wanted to hear him admit it.

 **"That is true. But if I'm honest, Lazy Town feels like my home. It reminds me a lot of my own hometown too, I suppose. Besides, I've eased off on the rescuing of simple accidents. I still try and prevent as much harm as I can, but…"**

 **"It's okay, I get it, you don't have to explain yourself to me, y'know. I just… Wanted to hear you say it."** Stephanie gave him a devilish grin before putting another piece of pineapple in her mouth, finding the look he gave her quite amusing.

Sportacus just shook his head with a brief chuckle; he knew she could be a cheeky thing, but normally that wasn't ever directed at him. To her friends, sure, and most certainly to Robbie when he reared his head, but not to him. Yet he didn't really mind it. She had grown up a lot in the time they'd known each other, but particularly within the last few years.

 **"Have you thought of what you'd like for your birthday at all?"** His question came after a few long moments of silence where they had sat down to admire the remains of the sunrise, watching Lazy Town below begin to properly wake up, and seemed to have caught her off guard.

 **"No, not really. Not with everything else on my mind. I know it's coming up but… It's just another day, really."** She shrugged dismissively, looking down at the now-empty bowl in her hands and chewing her bottom lip. She knew that her friends wouldn't forget, but knew that the guys at least wouldn't create a fuss if she didn't want it; Trixie, on the other hand… And then there was Bessie! She'd been told that the woman was off visiting her cousin but would be back in a few days' time, which would put her back in Lazy Town plenty of time before Stephanie's birthday.

Sportacus nodded solemnly, not wanting to press her about it. He could tell by the distant look on her face that she was thinking about the fuss that was likely to be caused, regardless if she wanted it to or not. He sprung up onto his feet, and at his offer to take her bowl, she handed it up to him before getting to her feet as well.

 **"Thanks for the fruit, Sportacus. I should get going though. Got that campout to plan, after all!"** She said as she walked over to the circle that would lower her down to the platform, before she turned to look back at him with a soft smile and couldn't stop her feet from walking her back to him, **"And thank you for the sunrise. It really was beautiful."** With that, she gave his cheek the lightest kiss before she returned to the platform and commanded it to go down all in a few swift movements.

Before he had time to process, she was gone. The bewildered puppy look returned to his features for a brief moment as he raised his hand to touch his cheek where she'd kissed it before the biggest, goofiest grin took over his features. He couldn't help but break out into an incredibly invigorated exercise routine.


	5. Unspoken

**Unspoken**

True to her word, Stephanie had spent the day organising things for the campout. She'd checked the weather forecast, which promised clear and dry days for most of the foreseeable week, and had called all her friends to let them know her plans and if they would come along. Everyone but Pixel agreed, but only because he was on a deadline with the stuff for the hospital, so that was understandable even if it was a little disappointing. Stingy and Ziggy were all over the idea, but it was Trixie who was probably the most excited.

And Stephanie knew why. Whilst she appreciated her friends' investment into seeing her happy, Trixie had committed herself to playing matchmaker when she'd first started to realise there was something between her beloved pink friend and their resident hero. They were all still fairly young at that stage, so the 'matchmaking' was more just Trixie finding ways to get the pair to do activities together, particularly singing and dancing.

Ever since a few months before her 18th, though, Stephanie had noticed an increase in Trixie's mischievous behaviour and frequently found herself being dragged into sticky or awkward situations that were made solely for the purpose of getting Sportacus to come to the rescue. She had told Trixie over and over that she needed to stop, trying to rationalise (mostly to herself) that a hero like Sportacus wouldn't be interested in having anything more than friendly relationships with the townsfolk. But Trixie hadn't wanted to listen, and they had a rather huge fight over it that resulted in harsh words and then a mutual silent treatment.

It wasn't until the night of Stephanie's 18th that the pair made up, and Stephanie was able to leave Lazy Town on a good note with all of her friends after a wonderful party. It was always hard leaving, and whilst they all knew that she would always come back for visits, it never took the edge off of having to say goodbye. Ziggy always looked like a sad abandoned puppy, and there was always a faint forlorn look in Sportacus' periwinkle blues; the pair of them like that always made her heart break a little.

* * *

 **"** **Alright, Trix, I think that's all we'll need…"**

 **"** **Yeah, seems like."**

The girls had gotten together in the afternoon to head out to Greenshore and go shopping for supplies, in particular, camping supplies like sleeping bags and tents, some outdoor cooking supplies and other such bits and pieces. Food and drink supplies they would get in Lazy Town before heading out.

 **"** **Now, time for the fun shopping!"** Trixie announced after they put the camping gear into the boot of her car, a grin on her face as she took Stephanie's hand and pulled her along back into the mall. She hadn't wanted to walk around trying to shop for new clothes whilst carting around all that camping gear, given that Stephanie had only planned on getting that stuff. For a girl that had always been fairly girly, Stephanie had honestly surprised her friend with her lack of interest in clothes shopping.

It wasn't that she had no interest in shopping, she did enjoy it, but over the years Stephanie had developed a more minimalistic taste, and given how much she lived in her leotards and dance costumes compared to everyday clothing, she found little need to have an excessive wardrobe. But she allowed Trixie to drag her around the mall, going from shop to shop, looking at clothes and shoes.

Eventually, she let Trixie buy her an outfit after failing to convince the brunette it wasn't necessary. Trixie was impossibly stubborn sometimes. It wasn't Stephanie normally would have gone for, but it did look nice on and was perfect for a campout with its Bohemian look. A pair of blue denim shorts, a coral pink cami with same-coloured floral motifs sewn onto it, and a crocheted tassel vest with a pair of simple sandals to match. In addition, just as a spare, Stephanie also bought herself a white cheesecloth tank that revealed her midriff with a colourful floral light jacket; they would go well with the denim shorts and either the sandals or her sneakers.

It did feel nice to get out somewhere new and spend some time doing things she normally wouldn't, especially with one of her childhood best friends. Trixie was always there for her when she needed it most, regardless of how far apart they were, and Stephanie was honestly very thankful for the distraction. If she stayed busy, distracted, she didn't have time to dwell on anything.

* * *

A twisted grin of self-satisfaction spread across Robbie's face as he took a step back from his workbench. He'd spent all day working on blueprints for a new machine, one that would wreak havoc on Lazy Town in a way that it had never seen before.

In the simplest of terms, it was a weather machine. Designed to manipulate the Troposphere – the part of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface where most weather occurs. Now the trick would be in making it. But if he could pull it off, it would be his best invention ever.

It didn't matter how long it was going to take, Robbie was determined to make it and succeed in having a fully functional invention that wouldn't be as easily thwarted as his pathetic past attempts. He'd spent years doing research and experimenting, taking freelance jobs along the way for other villains and institutions, but this would be his biggest project ever. The taffy machine was probably the only thing that even came close in difficulty to create.

* * *

That night, Stephanie was curled up into the corner of the couch, her uncle had recently gone to bed, but she was distracted flicking through her old memories again. There was another of her diaries open in her lap, but now she was just staring down at it, not actually reading it or looking at anything in particular on the page.

 ** _Diary Entry #30_**

 _Dear Diary. Today was terrifying! I've never been so scared or sad in my life, at least not that I can recall. Ziggy had been running about all morning telling fibs just to try and get a reaction out of us, so when he came in rambling about a cow causing trouble, none of us believed him. It was like that story 'The boy who cried wolf' because there really was a cow – only, of course, it was Robbie Rotten. He had brought out a heap of his favourite inventions to try and cause enough havoc that Sportacus wouldn't be able to keep up. He really underestimates Sportacus; you'd have thought he'd have figured that out by now. But what was truly a horrifying experience was seeing that wall come down on them. Robbie had fallen off the wall and it was rocking back and forth, and there went Sportacus on his back on a skateboard, zooming towards the wall in an attempt to save him. I honestly think my heart did stop when I saw the wall fall on top of them. It didn't look like there was enough room under it for either of them to have survived, and even the other kids were crying out in surprised horror. It wasn't until the wall shifted and I could see Sportacus lifting it back up that I stopped feeling like I was going to be sick. I don't know what I would have done if Sportacus really had died… But, can he? That wall really should have crushed him and Robbie. There was basically no room under it! I don't understand._

Stephanie sighed as she zoned back into reality and stroked the page with a slight frown. She read over the last few sentences and felt her heart and stomach twist. She could feel her cheeks heat up in anger briefly as she suddenly found herself resenting Sportacus. No, it wasn't his fault.

She gave a small sniffle and swallowed the lump in her throat. **"Stop it, Steph! You know he would have helped if he'd been there, but you know he couldn't be. It's too far away."** She scolded herself in a hushed whispered tone, shaking her head a little as she wiped away some tears that had begun to dampen her eyes. He was based in Lazy Town, and Sunborough City - her hometown - was miles and miles away.

With a sigh, she closed the diary and set it on the coffee table before retreating to her bedroom for the night. Tomorrow she would let Sportacus know that she had all the stuff they'd need for a campout, and see if he'd found a good spot to have it. Lying in bed now, she grabbed her phone from her nightstand, remembering the chip that he'd given her. She played with the little piece of tech in her fingers, inspecting it absentmindedly, wondering if she should message him now.

 **"** **9:09… Guess he'd be asleep if he really does go to bed at 8:08."** She smiled to herself with a slight shake of her head. She had often wondered as she grew up if that had just been a time he'd told them he went to bed so that they would all go to bed then as well. They were all so impressionable as kids, and asides from Pixel most of the time, they all listened to him and did go to bed at 8:08. Stephanie turned her phone around so that she could carefully put the chip into the side, and smiled as a new app icon popped up on the screen. It looked exactly like Sportacus' '10' symbol on his chest where his crystal lived.

She tapped the app and it opened up a short menu: Report, Call, Message. She smirked at the simplicity of it but appreciated how to-the-point it was. Choosing 'message', her thumbs moved quickly over the screen as she wrote out a short message.

 _Sorry if this wakes you. We've got everything for the campout ready, just need to find the perfect place. Everyone but Pixel can come, and we're all excited. Hope you'll still be able to make it._ _Steph._

She hadn't thought about adding the heart at the end, it was something she did all the time with her friends and family alike, and yet after she'd sent it, she worried that maybe he would take it strangely. It was quite the surprise when her phone vibrated a few moments later, and she stared at the screen as she read the message that popped up.

 _You didn't, don't worry. I have a spot in mind that I'll check out tomorrow and make sure it's dry enough. Promise I'll be there. Sweet dreams._ 10.

Stephanie couldn't help but grin like an idiot for a few minutes, reading 'sweet dreams' over and over, hearing it spoken in her head as clear as if he were there saying it directly to her. She felt like a little girl again with the way she was grinning, but she didn't care. It was strangely amusing that he'd signed it with his number rather than his name, but she figured it was just easier and quicker. She finally turned the phone's screen off and set it back on her nightstand before wrapping herself up in her blanket. It had been a long day, particularly the part with shopping with Trixie, but she drifted off to sleep with a subtle smile on her lips.

* * *

 _Fairy lights were strung up everywhere, dangling from every tree in the park, with upbeat music playing and the smell of delicious food was everywhere. Despite the fact the party was for her, Stephanie had taken a step away from it and was sitting on a bench talking with Trixie. They'd had a fight recently, about how Trixie was being too nosey and too pushy in regards to trying to get her and Sportacus together. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her friends' intentions, but it just wouldn't work out._

 ** _'_** ** _I really don't think he could see me as anything other than a little girl, and I don't think I would be able to handle that. It's easier to just leave things as they are, Trix. It hurts less like this than if I really invested in it.'_**

 ** _'_** ** _Yeah, I get what you're saying… You know how I can get, Pinky. But, I am sorry.'_**

 _The pair hugged it out as they did after every fight they'd ever had._

 _Stephanie knew her feelings for Sportacus were more than a childhood crush, and as she had grown – and as Sportacus had watch her grow – she had a feeling that he was doing the same as she was: hiding his feelings the best he could. She'd felt it every time they'd sung and danced together. But she had accepted that he wouldn't show it or admit it for reasons most likely pertaining to his job; she respected that, understanding the important role he had to play in the town's day-to-day function._

 _It was best that way, anyway. There were things in her own life that she wasn't yet ready to share with anyone, but knew that when she did, who she would want to share them with. Hopefully, when that time came, they would both be ready._

 ** _"_** ** _Stephanie, are you alright?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Speak of the devil,"_** _Trixie whispered with a giggle as she got up from the bench as Sportacus approached them from the party, obviously having been worried where they'd gone off to. The brunette gave her friend a knowing look as she nodded over at the man before she gave a wave and left._

 _Stephanie just blushed at the look. He'd come to find her, make sure she was OK, despite the fact he knew she was because his crystal would have alerted him if she wasn't._ _ **"Yeah, I'm fine. We were just talking away from all the noise."**_ _She smiled as she stood up as well, brushing a strand of hair from her face as she turned to look at him._

 _Why did he have to be so gorgeous? Those beautiful eyes. That perfect smile._

 ** _"_** ** _Your uncle was wondering where you disappeared to, he was going to start the speeches."_** _He informed with a bit of a grim smile, knowing how Stephanie hated speeches – it wasn't so bad when it was just her uncle, but they both knew that Bessie would have one a million pages long._

 ** _"_** ** _Sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone worry,"_** _She sighed softly, appearing like she was a bit reluctant to head back. Sportacus just shook his head and patted her shoulder comfortingly,_ _ **"Sportacus… Why don't you ever change? You always wear the same thing, even to events."**_

 _The question seemed to catch him a little by surprise, but he had a simple answer ready, just as Stephanie expected he would,_ _ **"It's difficult to move in a suit or jeans."**_ _His answer was logical, even if it didn't really satisfy her. After all, he didn't need his hat or goggles, at the very least. But instead of prodding further she just gave an understanding nod._ _ **"Figured that was probably the case. Anyway, I suppose I should get back…"**_

 _At her reluctant sigh, Sportacus reached out to gently touch her face, lifting her chin up to look at her face properly before he gave her fringe-covered forehead a gentle kiss,_ _ **"You're an amazing young woman, Stephanie. You're strong and determined, and you're going to do amazing things in life. If there is anything I can ever do, you know you need only ask. I want to see you succeed and be happy."**_

 _Stephanie stared up at him wide-eyed. She had never seen him act like this before; he was like a big soft teddy, with such warmth in his eyes that made her heart flutter. She lifted a hand and cover the one he used to hold her face, automatically closing her eyes and leaning into it._ _ **"You're too thoughtful for your own good, Sportacus."**_ _She murmured with a smile before she tilted her head and kissed the inside of his palm, then stepped away._ _ **"Let's get back to the party."**_ _She held her arm out for him to take. It took a brief moment before he did, as he stood there with an emotionally confused look on his face. But he took her arm in his own, and they headed back to the party._

* * *

Stephanie's eyes fluttered open as sunlight poured in through her open window, bringing with it the sweet sounds of chirping birds and a light breeze. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, remembering figments of her dream, which had been a memory to start with… She couldn't recall if the end of the dream was real or not. She couldn't exactly remember it, but it had felt so real.

She sighed after yawning and swung her legs over the side of her bed as she pushed herself up. A shower would clear her head. Why was this making her all confused now? Everything used to be so easy and simple. If only she could talk to her mother, have one of their long chats where Stephanie would open up her soul and her mother would know exactly what to say.

As she stood under the water, she let the tears fall. No one could see them here, and she could at least pretend that it was only the water.

* * *

Author's Note: -flails- I'm sorry if this seems like it's a slow start, I've honestly just been writing this out as a way to distract myself from the stress of new job + moving next weekend. But, the next chapter will be the start of the campout - what type of chaos do you think Robbie's weather machine is going to cause?! D


	6. Tent Time

Author's Note: This was meant to be more exciting than it ended up being, but my brain is just super scattered right now and this took way longer to write than previous chapters because I kept getting distracted, but I was determined to get it done and posted. It's likely my last chapter for a week or two, although I do hope I'll be able to get another out in that time, but just fair warning that I may not. At least it'll give me time to decide on exactly what Robbie's machine is going to do.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Tent Time**

Who needs sleep when you can stay up all night working relentlessly on piecing together a new invention? Not Robbie. Not that sleep was easy for him given that he suffered from insomnia in varying degrees; but when he got engrossed in a project, nothing could break his focus. It reminded him of that time he set up that giant wall through the town in a night, right before Sportakooks' birthday.

Machine parts lay scattered about his underground lair, springs and cogs and all sorts of bits and bobs littered his workbench alongside a plethora of tools, and there were small puddles of oil splattered around his feet, as well as on the apron he wore to keep his beloved striped suit from being ruined.

Robbie stepped back as he dusted off his hands, put them on his hips, and grinned at the final product. His weather machine was ready! It hadn't taken him nearly as long as he'd expected, but that was thanks to having so many other inventions lying about that he could pull apart and use an entire section of. It was a fair size, considering all the things it needed to be capable of doing, but compared to some others he'd made or purchased, it was a convenient size that should be able to be hidden fairly well in the forest.

Now all that remained was the programming. With a satisfied sigh, he removed his apron and tossed it onto the bench and walked over to the fridge, retrieving a well-deserved slice of cake and a soda before taking a seat on his fluffy orange recliner.

 **"** **I can take a section of the program from the Taffy machine, there'll be a useful bit from the Feet Crazer, and the Soccer Bot…"** He listed some of them aloud to himself as he remembered what machines he had that he could utilise. Some of his snow machine he'd put into the weather machine, so of course part of its programming would have to go in as well. **"Hmmm, should be able to use mostly pre-existing codes and just add in some new stuff to string it all together… Might take a while to find the pieces. Hmmm."**

* * *

The airship soared through the early morning sky as Sportacus set out to find a perfect place for the campout Stephanie had suggested. He'd loved the idea of it, given that it had been a long time since he'd properly hung out with all the kids at once; not that any of them were kids anymore, of course.

Pixel was the eldest, having turned 21 at the start of the year, with Stephanie being the second eldest, whilst Stingy was 20, Trixie 19, and Ziggy 17. They had all grown up amazingly and were all pursuing their dreams.

Well, most of them. A little frown creased his brow as he flew slowly over the forest, looking down as he tried to find a clearing that would be suitable but finding that he wasn't actually focusing. Stephanie was going to be living in Lazy Town now, but what would she do? It was still a small town with very little in the way of careers, especially in her fields of interest. He would hate to see her give up on her dancing or gymnastics.

And then a subtle, if slightly cheeky, smile spread across his lips as he had the perfect idea of what to get her for her birthday. Even if she didn't want a party, saying that it was just another day, it didn't mean he couldn't get her something amazing. With renewed vigour, Sportacus sped his airship up and renewed his search for a clearing, eager to get back to town and chat with the Mayor to try and organise his gift.

* * *

 **"** **Oh, Stephanie! Oh, dear, are you alright? You look so sad."**

Milford's voice snapped her out of her daze as she walked out of her bedroom, and she looked over at where he stood behind the kitchen bench and gave him a sad smile with a sniffle. It was clear as day that she was barely holding herself together, and he bustled over to her as quickly as he could and wrapped his arms around her.

Stephanie fell apart almost immediately, burying her face against her uncle's shoulder and letting herself just cry. She could feel him gently rub her back and one hand came up to stroke her hair, and after a few minutes – although it felt like hours – she began to calm down.

 **"** **Shh, it's alright my dear, take however long you need. I am always here for you, you know that."** Milford smiled softly as Stephanie took a step back out of his arms and gave a tiny nod. He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and gently dabbed it against her cheeks, drying up the dampness from her tears. **"You're a beautiful and strong young woman, my dear, but you don't have to bottle everything up,"** he added as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear; an action that he normally would never do, nor would Stephanie allow to happen, but it was just the two of them in the house.

She sniffled a little as she gave a little nod, **"I know… It's just… I don't really know what to do with myself now. I just left everything else behind to come out here to be with you again, I didn't really think about anything else. Anyway,"** Stephanie shook her head a little and gave her uncle a smile and another small hug, **"I needed that, Uncle, thank you. I'm going to go shopping with Stingy for supplies for the campout. I just hope Sportacus has found a good spot."**

 **"** **Of course, my dear, of course. Any time."** Milford nodded with a warm smile that she seemed to have a bit of bounce back in her step again. When he'd heard about the accident, it had hurt him, of course, but he had been the 'distant relative' since becoming Mayor; before that, though, he'd often visited Sunborough City when Stephanie was a little tyke and brought her all sorts of gifts; her favourites had been the story books full of fun and adventure. He had been like that single aunt that travelled around and would drink wine at parties and bring everyone all sorts of gifts… Only, an uncle.

The only thing that had saddened him when he'd become Mayor of Lazy Town was the fact it severely restricted his ability to go and visit his niece. It had been quite a few years since he had last seen her, so when he'd received a call from his sister-in-law asking if it would be OK for Stephanie to visit for the Summer, he had been overjoyed. He was glad that she had enjoyed it so much that she'd requested to come back every holiday.

 **"** **Oh,"** Stephanie heard her phone vibrate on her bedside table, **"That's probably Stingy. I better go get ready."** She kissed her uncle's cheek before quickly walking over to the coffee table in the lounge to grab the pink diary she'd left there the night before, and then headed back into her room to get changed. She scooped up her phone to check the message, which was indeed from Stingy.

 _Hey Steph, be there in 20!_

Tossing her pink and white PJs onto her bed, she quickly grabbed out clean clothes from the wardrobe; white denim shorts, a baby blue short sleeved top, with a new pair of sandals. She then walked over to her dresser and sat down, staring at herself in the mirror for a moment as she noticed her hair was still tucked behind her ear even after getting changed. She reached up slowly, almost as if she were scared, and carefully pulled her hair free. Time then seemed to resume as usual as she snapped out of it and began to brush the pink locks until they were silky smooth.

After a touch of blush, a light coat of mascara, and her favourite cocoa butter lip balm, Stephanie nodded to herself and stood up. She was ready to go. And just in time too, as she heard the doorbell. Tucking her phone, wallet, and lip balm into a small white purse, she looped the gold chain over her shoulder and dashed out of her room.

 **"** **Stingy!"** She greeted him cheerfully as she beat her uncle to the door and pulled it open, seemingly behaving like a completely different person to how she'd been only half an hour ago. The young man gave her a charming smile and gave a wave to Milford as well. **"Uncle, did you need anything from the store while we're there?"** She asked but received a gentle shake of a head in response and a wave out the door, so she nodded and headed out with Stingy to the local grocery store.

 **"** **It's going to be great to go out camping! I'll bring my camera and telescope and binoculars too. I'm hoping I'll be lucky enough to spot a Gold Spiked Katydid for my next article. Or a Frozen Felonwort! It has blue petals that look like they've been frozen, with a bright orange centre. It's a relative of the nightshade family."**

As they walked down the street towards the grocery store, Stephanie listened intently as Stingy elaborated on the flora and fauna that he was eager to see whilst they were out and offered her assistance in trying to keep an eye out for things as well.

* * *

 **"** **They're going out camping?!"** Robbie pulled his face in disgust, but it lit back up again in an instant as opportunity struck him. He stepped away from his periscope and walked back over to his desk, cracking his knuckles as he sat back down to keep working on the programming for the weather machine. If he could get it functional before those brats went camping… Oh, what havoc he would wreak!

* * *

The trill sound of a phone ringing sounded in the Mayor's office as Milford rushed over to it, but it rang out before he got to it. He huffed and shook his head in disappointment at himself, but it was short lived as the door to his office was pushed open and Sportacus walked in.

 **"** **Oh, good morning, Sportcaus!"**

 **"** **Morning, Mayor. I did call, but I thought it would be quicker to just come to see you. I hope I am not interrupting anything?"**

 **"** **Not at all. What can I help you with? Is Stephanie OK?! She's not in trouble, is she, she's such a special girl…"** Just like when she was young, there was instant fear and concern in his voice and eyes, but visibly relaxed when Sportacus held up his hand and shook his head.

 **"** **No, she's not in trouble,"** he tapped his crystal lightly to indicate it was calm, **"but this is about her, actually… Her birthday is coming up, right?"** He watched Milford nod, but then realised that he wasn't quite sure how to go about with his request, and shuffled on the spot a little uncomfortably. In the back of his mind, he had often wondered why Milford had always said she was a special girl but wound it down to the fact she was his only niece. He cleared his throat though when he realised Milford was looking at him rather concerned. **"I had a thought this morning about what to get her for a present, but I'll need your help, Mayor."**

Milford looked intrigued as Sportacus began to detail his idea of fixing up the old indoor sports hall on the other side of the sports field and converting it into a proper gymnasium. It was in need of some remodelling, fixing up some structural issues that had developed over the past few years, and some of the old equipment would have to be replaced. Sportacus seemed to know exactly what he was on about, which sometimes resulted in a very lost and confused look on Milford's behalf, but after a good near-hour of talking and planning, both men were happy with the progress they'd made.

 **"** **She will love it, Sportacus, she really will. When she told me that she was going to come and live out here and not pursue a career in any of her studies or dancing, I was really worried. She used to love dancing and singing so much, as you of course know,"** Milford rambled and Sportacus nodded, having many a fond memory of dancing with the young pink girl over the years, **"We are so lucky that you are still here looking out for us all. I can never thank you enough."**

 **"** **Not at all, Mayor. This town and its people mean a lot to me,"** Some more than others, but that was never something he could openly admit. Instead, he simply smiled and shook Milford's hand.

 **"** **And you mean a lot to us… To some more than others."**

The words caught Sportacus by surprise and he looked at Milford with wide eyes and his head cocked slightly to one side. He couldn't believe he'd heard the same words he'd been thinking coming out of Milford's mouth.

 **"** **Stephanie. And-and the other children, I mean… You were a very big part of their lives,"** Milford stammered, suddenly embarrassed that he'd seen Stephanie's old diary on the coffee table that morning and had been unable to resist opening it, so he tried to cover it up by including the other kids as well.

 **"** **Y-ye-"**

Saved by the crystal. Sportacus glanced down as the crystal began to beep and glow, and he quickly waved bye to Milford before dashing out the door, speeding off just like always to rescue whoever it was that needed his assistance.

Milford sighed in relief as he sank back in his chair, fanning himself with a thin book to try and cool the heat that had made its way into his cheeks. **"Oh, Stephanie, I'm so sorry my dear."** He murmured to himself, glancing out of the window towards the grocery store just in time to see his beloved niece and Stingy walk out with armfuls of paper bags. She looked so happy, laughing as she used to as a child without a care in the world, but he knew how much of it was just a mask.

* * *

Stephanie had received a message from Sportacus after she and Stingy had returned to her uncle's house and packed the groceries away, stating that he'd found a perfect spot in the forest near a stream. It sounded perfect and made Stephanie even more excited about it. She'd then spent the afternoon with her friends over at Trixie's, planning different games and activities they could do to make the campout as fun as possible. Out of everything though, she was just really excited about being able to spend time with everyone, it didn't matter if they did nothing but sit around and tell stories.

As she was packing her backpack with clothes, a thought occurred to her, and she felt the blood drain from her face briefly. Robbie Rotten. She knew from the other morning that he was still in town, and gathered from his disgruntled snappy attitude that he was still the same as ever. If he had heard about them wanting to do a campout, and especially if he knew Sportacus was going to be there…

Surely Robbie would have given up his old antics by now, but it was something that Stephanie greatly doubted. With a shake of her head, she focused on packing her stuff until her phone buzzed and she looked at the message from Trixie saying she was on her way over now. Making sure she had everything she would need, she swung her bag over her shoulder and headed into the kitchen.

 **"** **Everything is all packed and ready for you, my dear."**

 **"** **Oh, thanks, Uncle! Trixie is on her way over now, all of the camping equipment is in her car, then we're gonna go grab the guys. I hope there'll be enough room for everything because Stingy did say he wanted to bring some of his gear…"** Stephanie giggled as she thought of the four of them fitting in Trixie's red MINI Convertible. Whilst it had a lot more room than she ever would have originally thought, with three tents and cooking gear already in the boot, and this esky of food and drinks, she wondered if Stingy's stuff would fit.

 **"** **Just promise me you'll stay safe."**

 **"** **Don't worry Uncle, we'll be fine. And Sportacus is going to join us too."**

 **"** **I know, I know… You know me, Stephanie, I worry about you."**

Stephanie stopped moving the esky towards the door to look at her uncle with a smile, **"I know you do. And I appreciate it, I really do, but I** ** _promise_** **I'll be fine. We're only going to be out a night or two, and I'll have my phone on me so I'll send you some messages if you like?"**

 **"** **Oh, no, no, it's OK! Enjoy yourself first."**

Stephanie shook her head with a light-hearted laugh at her Uncle. The honk of a car horn out on the street indicated that Trixie was here, and so Milford helped his niece carry out the esky to the car, and watched as the pair drove off, waving until they were out of sight.

They rounded the street and headed up towards Stingy's place, where he and Ziggy were waiting out the front. To Stephanie's surprise, Stingy didn't have as much stuff as she'd been expecting, nor was any of it too big to fit in Trixie's little car.

 **"** **Hey, guys!"** Stephanie waved eagerly, and whilst Stingy would have waved back were his hands not full, Ziggy gave an extra exuberant wave to compensate. Trixie pulled up and the guys got in, Stingy carefully placing his equipment in the boot where it wouldn't roll around or get damaged, although he kept his camera around his neck. They all chatted about how excited they all were as they headed out towards the forest, Ziggy, in particular, was almost as hyperactive as he used to be as a child, resulting in a few 'calm down's from Stingy along the way.

* * *

It was late afternoon now, somewhere close to 4:30, perhaps even verging on 5 pm, and they'd set up a campfire and their tents were all good to go. They'd tried to find tents in Greenshore that were at least doubles, but they'd only been able to find singles; Stingy had insisted he didn't want one, because he wanted to keep an eye out for things to photograph. As for Sportacus, Stephanie had remembered he had his own from that time when she was a kid he went scouting with her, although she hadn't double checked if he still had it.

 **"** **Tent tiiiime!"** Stingy chimed with a laugh, to which Stephanie and Ziggy repeated as well, all three of them remembering their own first campout together when Robbie had been running around as that terrifying dinosaur.

Stephanie remembered that night pretty clearly. Ziggy had been scared of the dark and kept jumping at every little shadow, even when they'd retreated inside and set the tent up in her bedroom. He kept on about a dinosaur, which neither she nor Stingy believed – why would they, dinosaurs didn't exist anymore – until eventually they saw it and scattered. Whilst part of her knew it wasn't real, the terror at the time overwhelmed her. She smiled, though, remembering how Sportacus had come to their rescue even though it was after 8:08, but then began to chew on her bottom lip absentmindedly as she also remembered that wasn't the only scary thing that night. When he had helped her down off the ladder and she'd hugged him, her hair had caught around his crystal. It had hurt as she'd pulled away, and instinctively she'd made sure that it sat neatly as possible straight away.

She sighed silently to herself as she watched the flames dancing in the pit they'd all help make. It wasn't that she was hiding anything in shame, but more so in a fear of being ridiculed. She knew that her friends would never think less of her, but that time in her first school had shaken her to her core from a young age, and her parents had even encouraged her to keep it a secret to save herself from any bullying.

 **"** **Sportacus!"**

All three voices cried out at the same time and Stephanie looked over her shoulder; only, her view was entirely blocked by a pair of blue pants. She was thankful for her hair hiding her cheeks, because it was a very particular pair of pants, and a particular part of those pants that was very awkward to be so close to. As she quickly went to look up properly, she turned awkwardly and slipped off the log she'd been seated on with a soft squeak and a surprised expression plastered across her face but did manage to break out into laughter pretty quickly.

In a way, she felt like a damsel in distress staring up at her knight in shining… blue spandex.

 **"** **Stephanie!"** Sportacus held his hand out to her to help her up, looking both apologetic and amused at the same time, **"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."** He apologised as she took his hand and he helped her sit back on the log before he jumped over it, looking around at the camp's setup with a smile, admiring how well they'd set everything up.

 **"** **It's alright,"** She smiled sheepishly before looking over at Trixie, who had very clearly seen the reason for her friend slipping from her seat, as she was trying her hardest to contain her laughter. A light wave of dread washed over Stephanie, bringing with it the feeling that perhaps this wasn't the best idea to have invited everyone, particularly Trixie.

She would have to keep a close eye on her devious friend.

 **"** **It's so great you're here, Sportacus!"** Ziggy had always loved seeing Sportacus around, and over the years had received many a helpful training tip or workout session that had really helped him to kick the sugar (he still loved a good sugary treat sometimes, but had a lot more self-control now), but it also helped him focus on what he wanted to do once he was out of school. If it wasn't for Sportacus, he'd probably be some obese little thing that just annoyed everyone with how loud he was. **"I didn't know you liked camping."**

 **"** **I love camping. Whilst I was away just recently, I was camping with old friends that do what I do. We meet up when we can, usually go do some ice fishing, and have a campout and cook the fish we catch."**

 **"** **Wait, you eat meat?!"** Trixie butted in, sounding surprised, **"I thought you were a vegetarian or vegan or something."**

Stephanie watched the scene silently as Stingy came and sat beside her, handing her a cup of lemonade, smirking at how they were still learning things about their town hero after all these years. She loved how he stood with his fists on his hips and shook his head at Trixie.

 **"** **I only eat fish, but I'm terrible at catching them,"** he admitted, which resulted in a soft burst of laughter from them all, **"but, I suppose asides from that, you could say I'm like a vegetarian."**

 **"** **Oh, Sportacus! Sportacus! I could teach you how to fish if you like! Surely there's some in that stream."** Ziggy sounded impossibly excited as he made his offer, and Sportacus seemed to think about it for a brief moment before nodding with a _'_ _sure'_ as a response. Trixie, however, was quick to point out that they didn't have any fishing equipment, and Ziggy's face fell.

Stephanie could feel herself being pulled in every direction, and she hated it. She wanted to spend time with her friends, and with Sportacus, just the way they used to as kids, but she felt herself hating the idea of being out here now, and there was a sting of resentment as Ziggy spoke about fishing, which would mean they would go down to the stream which was a half mile walk from where they'd made camp, and so would not really be with the rest of them. She sighed softly, and felt Stingy nudge her side gently.

 **"** **You alright Steph? You're really quiet."** He spoke softly, almost a whisper as Trixie and Ziggy yammered on loudly, arguing about something he didn't care to pay attention to but noting that Sportacus was attempting to calm them both.

 **"** **Yeah, I'm ok. Just… Thinking."**

 **"** **That this might not have been the best idea?"**

 **"** **Am I that obvious?"** She grimaced as she looked at him apologetically.

 **"** **Nah, I'm just really observant,"** He gently rubbed her back with a hand for a few moments until she smiled, **"There, that's better. Now, you let me keep an eye on Trixie, alright? You just enjoy yourself. Heavens know you deserve it."**

 **"** **Thanks, Stinge."**

The feeling of dread washed away as Stingy reassured her that he'd help keep things calm. He was the first who'd figured out that there was something more between their beloved pink friend and their blue hero than met the eye, but unlike Trixie, he wasn't the type to try and force them together any chance he got.

Yet, despite that, something lurked in the back of her mind that made the fine hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She couldn't place what it was, but it wasn't good.


	7. Trouble has a Name

**Trouble has a Name**

The sun had set some time ago but the campfire shone brightly, illuminating the clearing they'd chosen as their campsite. It was a peaceful spot, and the crackling sounds of the fire didn't seem out of place with the sounds of nature around it. The only thing it needed now was for the lot of them to get lost!

 **"** **Who brings music to a campout?!"**

Robbie was grumbling and groaning to himself as he tried to work as silently as he could to set up the weather machine; there was the core machine, of course, but he'd also developed (or more so, repurposed) some additional nodes that would help with signal boosting. It wasn't like he really had to be that quiet though, given that the brats were playing music and dancing around laughing and carrying on like they were all 10 again!

He'd come out into the forest not long after the brats had got here – he'd originally hoped to get here before them, but the programming had taken a bit longer to get right, and even then, he wasn't sure if it would all function as intended. He'd learnt from many of his failures, figuring out where certain things went wrong, but he'd also had no time to do a proper field test with the machine and was a little concerned it wasn't going to yield the results he was hoping for.

At worst, it wouldn't work at all, and he'd have to go back to the drawing board.

* * *

They'd already eaten and relaxed for a while afterwards, just the five of them sitting around the campfire sharing stories and telling jokes when Ziggy had started to play some music on his phone. It had been accidental to start with, and at first, Trixie had punched his arm for ruining the peaceful quiet of the forest, but Stephanie had told him to turn it up a bit and began to dance in her seat. It didn't take long for the others to join in too, and soon enough they were all up and dancing about the fire, singing and carrying on.

Stingy was the first to stop, but that was only because he'd apparently caught sight of something in the woods on the other side of the campfire, so he'd grabbed his camera and flashlight but Trixie refused to let him go off alone; he seemed eager to photograph whatever it was he'd seen, so he put up no argument.

Ziggy turned down the music, leaving it playing softly enough that it was still audible through the crackling fire but not enough to be annoying now as he sat with a stick loaded with marshmallows.

 **"** **Want some, Steph?"**

 **"** **Hmmm… Okay!"** Stephanie thought for a moment as she took a brief sheepish glance at Sportacus; he was busy checking his wristband as it had recently made a noise, so she grinned at Ziggy and leant over to take one of the roasted puffs and popped it in her mouth. It wasn't like she was trying to be sneaky, or was embarrassed by eating high-sugar content food, but something in her still felt guilty when doing so around Sportacus, just like when she was a kid.

What a funny feeling.

She shook her head lightly at herself as she watched the flames flicker and dance, once again seeming to drift off into a daze. Nothing in particular crossed her mind this time, though, she was just completely entranced by the fire.

 **"** **Hey, Sportacus! Can you do any fire tricks? Like with sticks and stuff?"**

 **"** **Like fire twirling? Sure. Although, it's better to do it with the proper equipment…"**

There was visible disappointment on Ziggy's face, a look that had always made the slightly-above-average hero cave to the kids' wishes. Now was no different. Despite the fact the kids had all grown up, they were still kids in his heart, Ziggy in particular. With a defeated sigh and a nod, Sportacus looked around for some suitable sticks, making the young blonde's face light up like a Christmas tree in excitement.

 **"** **Sorry, Stephanie… Can I?"**

There was no response. Her chin was in her hands with her elbows on her knees, and her eyes were glazed over with the reflection of the fire dancing in them, and her hair hung around her face like a perfect frame. She was a beautiful sight, but seeing her sitting there so quiet and distant made him sad. With a concerned expression, Sportacus reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, but he recoiled the moment she released a surprised yelp.

 **"** **Oh, Sportacus! Oh, it's just you… Oh, sorry, did I zone out again?"** Stephanie startled out of her daze when she'd felt a hand on her shoulder, physically jumping in surprise before feeling utterly foolish as he saw the surprised but concerned look on his face.

 **"** **It's alright. I was just wanted to get that stick,"** he motioned to a fair sized stick that was just behind her foot. With a nod and a murmur of an apology, she moved her feet out of the way and grabbed it for him.

 **"** **What do you want a stick for?"** She questioned as she handed it to him, knowing he wouldn't use it to roast marshmallows, and it wasn't fit for firewood.

 **"** **I asked if he knew how to do fire tricks, so he's gonna show us!"** Ziggy piped up after finally managing to swallow all of the marshmallows he'd shoved in his mouth that had resulted in a serious workout for his jaw.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow as she watched Sportacus nod and walk over to the other side of the fire where there was more room. He alternated putting both ends of the stick into the fire until it was well lit before he did some basic twirling.

It reminded Stephanie of ribbon twirling in rhythmic gymnastics. She and Ziggy seemed to become totally enraptured as Sportacus began to swirl the stick around more vigorously, but being that it was only a regular stick lit on fire and not a proper fire twirler, the whooshing sound of fire through the air quickly resulted in the flames extinguishing.

 **"** **You really can do anything, can't you Sportacus?"**

 **"** **Ha, I don't know about that. I haven't tried everything yet."**

 **"** **Even so, you can learn something new in just a few hours, and that's amazing! You'd totally be good at anything you try."**

Stephanie couldn't help but laugh lightly as Ziggy verbalised the exact same thoughts that had been in her mind as Sportacus carefully snapped the stick in half and tossed it into the fire to dispose of it. It was true though, their beloved hero was great at anything that he tried even if he had only just learnt it, and he always put his all into everything, even the most simple daily tasks.

 **"** **I know someone else who's a fast learner too,"** There was a mildly amused smirk on the man's face as he nodded his head towards Stephanie, and Ziggy seemed to think on it a moment before nodding his head in agreement.

 **"** **You're right! How do you both do it?! It takes me ages to learn new things, and even longer to get the hang of them and get good at it…"** There was disappointment evident in the young blonde's voice as he hung his head, pouting at the fire, wishing he was better at things naturally.

 **"** **H-hey, don't be sad Ziggy! Everyone learns at their own pace. If you try and rush it, you make more mistakes and that usually makes it harder to train yourself out of those mistakes. Besides, comparing yourself against Sportacus isn't fair."**

 **"** **But comparing myself to you, that's fair isn't it, right?"**

Stephanie was caught off guard by the question and stood there, sort of speechless for a moment, before Ziggy looked up at her with a smile and shook his head. It didn't make her feel any less embarrassed, but all she could do was return the smile.

 **"** **Sorry, didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I know everyone's different, and you're naturally good at things because you're so determined… I know I struggle with focusing and goals and stuff."** He looked a little sheepish, not having meant to make Stephanie feel awkward.

 **"** **Don't worry too much Ziggy. You've still got school to focus on, but you already know what you want to do when you graduate, right? That's something not everyone can say. You know I'm always happy to help when I can, too."** Sportacus gave him a grin. It was something they had all admired about their hero: he was always willing to help them with anything so selflessly, although, he wasn't the only one.

 **"** **Me too, now I'm back and staying!"** Stephanie agreed eagerly, earning a huge thankful smile from Ziggy, and an approving nod from Sportacus. Just like their hero, even as a young girl, she had always done anything and everything within her power to help others with no regard for her own wellbeing at the time.

 **"** **Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. You're the best friends anyone could ask for!"** Ziggy got to his feet and Stephanie gave him a quick hug, " **Anyway, I might go get some sleep. Hopefully Stingy and Trixie will be back soon before it gets too late."**

 **"** **Hm, they have been gone a while, but my crystal will go off if there are any problems."**

 **"** **Stingy probably found something he's staking out. He was telling me this morning about some of the flora and fauna he's been hoping to find for his next article. And Trixie's with him… I'm sure we'd hear her scream or yell."**

The trio shared a laugh at Stephanie's comment about Trixie, all knowing it to be incredibly true, before Ziggy gave them a wave and said goodnight and retreated into his tent. Stephanie couldn't help but feel a little sad for him. It was true that she was naturally good at things, just as Sportacus was, but sometimes it just takes some extra polishing to make something really shine.

She sighed softly and shook her head a little before taking a seat on the log again, letting her happy façade fade a little. She knew she didn't have to pretend around her friends, but she felt that if she didn't then they wouldn't want to be around her; she knew she didn't even want to be around herself right now.

Pretending was a nice distraction, but it took a lot of upkeep.

 **"** **I can go look for them if you're worried?"** Sportacus asked softly as he stood by her shoulder, but then took a seat beside her when she shook her head. **"Stephanie… Is something bothering you? I mean… besides… y'know… Sorry, this sounded better in my head."**

Stephanie gave a small laugh as he apologised, and she looked over at him as he took a seat beside her, **"It's alright Sportacus. I know I keep zoning out, sorry. I can't really seem to concentrate unless I'm physically doing something. I thought this would be a good idea, but…"** She sighed softly as she looked down at her lap where she fidgeted with her nails. She wanted to join in, she wanted to at least pretend like things kept her interest, but it was hard trying to keep focused when her inner voice was having constant arguments with her emotions.

 **"** **Hey, no, don't apologise. You've done nothing wrong,"** Sportacus frowned slightly with a shake of his head before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He wanted to pull her in, hold her close on his lap and let her know that he was here for her, here for whatever she needed him for, but his common sense remained in control and so he didn't invade her personal space any further.

Of course, he wasn't going to push her away if she happened to lean in closer.

 **"** **I know, I can't seem to help it though. And I feel kinda bad I've been the least invested here even though it was my idea. I just don't know what to do with myself, Sportacus. I… Pretending to be my normal happy self is exhausting. I don't know how long I can keep it up. S-sorry…"** She trailed off as she leant in against him with a heavy defeated sigh. They sat in peaceful silence for some time before she gave a soft groan of frustration, **"Ugh, what's wrong with me Sportacus?"** Stephanie tilted her head to look up at him, eyes silently pleading for salvation.

 **"** **Nothing! Not a thing is wrong with you,"** Whilst his voice was stern, it was still soft and warm as he refused to let her believe she was abnormal, **"You've had a severe tragedy occur and you've had two of your most important and closest family members ripped from you,"** she could feel his arm tighten around her at this, **"your heart and your mind don't know what to do, and each is conflicted; you've always been a confident and strong-willed person, but tragedies like these cause emotions to be turned on their heads,"** he squeezed her arm again gently and she leant her head against his shoulder, allowing him the ability to kiss her head, **"you're grieving, and everyone grieves in different ways. There is nothing wrong with you, Stephanie. Nothing at all."**

At this, she tilted her head to look up at him again and gave a sad but genuine smile of gratitude, **"You always make me feel better…"** She whispered a line she had told him many a time as a young girl, but it was still the truth. He had a way with words that was almost magical.

Those beautiful smile lines. The way those gorgeous eyes crinkled in the corners. They made her heart feel like it was melting and freezing at the same time.

 **"** **Good."** Sportacus smiled warmly, watching her as she shifted so that she could face him better, an action he took as well, if only a little. There seemed to be a hint of fear in her eyes that made him a bit concerned as she reached her hand out to touch his face tentatively, but it vanished the moment he leant into her touch and placed his own hand over hers, his eyes automatically closing as if by instinct.

 **"…"** Her lips parted as if to speak before closing again as she decided no words were needed. At this point, Stephanie felt like she was running on autopilot; everything was numb and there was only the soft crackling of the campfire and the sound of her heartbeat in her ears. She slowly leant closer to his face, pausing only as those gorgeous periwinkle blues eased open to stare into her very soul. It wasn't a harsh stare, nor was it angry or upset. Rather, it was warm and gentle, and she could have sworn there was a glimmer of hope in them.

Their lips were only a few centimetres apart, and he could already smell her cocoa butter lip balm. It was a sweet smell, something he wasn't typically drawn to, but at this very moment, it was the most intoxicating scent. He could see in her sad brown eyes that she was barely staying afloat in a whirlpool of emotions, and it felt like there was suddenly a fist clenched around his heart, squeezing gradually tighter as his inner voice argued with itself.

 **"** **Stephanie…"** Her name came out as the softest whisper as his hand released hers, which subsequently fell from his cheek to rest on his shoulder as if in defeat, and he watched as she lowered her head sadly. A concerned frown took over his feathers and he reached out to gently lift her chin up, and he felt his stomach twist as the invisible hand around his heart squeezed suffocatingly tight at seeing the tears rimming her eyes.

She looked like a broken doll.

 **"** **S-sor…ry…"** Stephanie choked out awkwardly as she tried to hide her face from him, but he wouldn't let her drop her head again. As she tried to turn it away instead, she felt his hand move from her chin to her jaw and cheek, and then his other hand did the same to the other side of her face.

Time seemed to both stand still and move at lightning speed, and it made her head spin. Maybe it was her emotions, maybe it was the food or even the fresh air.

Or, just maybe, it was the lips pressed against her own.

Sportacus had been unable to stop himself. She looked as vulnerable as a lost puppy, and he hated it. He wanted to protect her. No, he _needed_ to protect her. He'd closed the gap between their faces and gently pressed their lips together, his inner conscience falling silent at the same moment as if stunned by his actions.

It was only a few elongated seconds, but it felt like forever. He slowly pulled back when he felt she hadn't responded; had he stepped over a line, had he moved too fast too soon? She hadn't pushed him away, though, so perhaps it was simply surprise. He studied her face with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

Stephanie was shocked. Her damp eyes were wide with surprise and her lips were parted slightly, as though her jaw hadn't been able to fall open. Her heart raced so fast that it almost hurt. She could feel her cheeks heat up as Sportacus calmingly stroked her cheeks with his thumbs and her eyes instinctively closed as, this time, she leant in towards him.

How could something feel so perfect and so wrong at the same time? His mind was driving him crazy with its constant reminders that Stephanie was still a young girl, a child, even though he knew full well that she wasn't. She was a young woman, a strong and determined one, who always offered help to anyone that needed it, but was now trying to hold herself together with fake smiles and laughter after a whole part of her world had crumbled away into oblivion.

That's why it felt wrong; his inner voice whispered to him that he was taking advantage of her while she may not have been thinking straight.

He gently deepened the kiss, one hand leaving her face to take hold of her hand whilst the other slipped into her hair. Stephanie seemed to be totally absorbed in the kiss to notice, her heartbeat hammering in her ears as all of her emotions seemed to explode at once, and she could feel tears trickling down her face through her closed eyes as she entwined their fingers together as she felt him take her hand.

It certainly wasn't how she'd imagined the night would turn out, having thought that they'd all hang around the campfire laughing and telling stories and dancing like they were kids again, playing crazy games and just being wild. Perhaps they would have done more of that if Stingy and Trixie hadn't gone off into the forest to hunt plants and bugs, or if Ziggy hadn't gone to bed already.

No, it was all Stephanie's fault. She was the downer here, constantly distracted by her thoughts and zoning out of conversations, mentally distancing herself from whatever was happening around her at the time. She'd promised Stingy she would help him find things for his article, but instead she'd just sat there and Trixie had gone with him instead, then she'd made Ziggy feel uncomfortable so he'd gone off to bed earlier than expected, leaving her to fight her emotions with the only person in town that made them go haywire.

She hadn't noticed that Sportacus had pulled away until she suddenly felt like she was being watched, and her eyes opened. He was looking at her with a strange expression, one she'd never seen on his face before, and one she had no words to accurately describe at the time. She looked at him quizzically, but it was only as she cocked her head slightly to the side that her eyes seemed to widen. His hand was still tangled in her hair, holding her head right over her ear.

 **"** **I-I'm s-sorry, I… I need to… need to... Sorry."**

 **"** **Wh-what is… Stephanie, wait!"**

Sportacus watched in wide-eyed surprise as she pulled away from him, getting up quickly and running off into the trees. He stood up, prepared to run after her, but something held him back and he slumped back down onto the log and stared at his hands in defeat. She needed time to herself, room to breathe and to process. He frowned as he stared down at his right hand, the one that had been entangled in her hair.

Surely he had imagined it, right?

* * *

The nodes were all set up and the system was running silently. So far, so good. Nothing was behaving contrary to its programming, and at least for now, that was a win. As he was preparing to climb down from a tree, however, the sound of crunching leaves on the ground caught his attention. Someone was approaching, so he carefully sank down onto the large branch he'd been standing on and clung to the trunk, trying to keep himself as hidden as possible; it helped that it was dark and he'd opted for a black outfit, but that wouldn't stop a flashlight from revealing him.

He watched as the figure came into sight. It was the pink one. She looked distraught, but not in a way that would have indicated she was in danger. The crunching stopped as she slowed her jog to a walk, and then sank down onto the ground at the base of the tree.

His tree.

Robbie frowned as he watched her pull up her knees, place her arms around them, and hid her face. He hated to admit he was curious, but he had never seen her in such a state before. Did the blond kid say something? Or maybe Sportadoop did something – or maybe, didn't do something? He knew they were the only two that could be involved, as he'd seen the other two around earlier, down by the water taking photos of some animal or something.

He needed to get down. He needed to get back to his lair so he could properly control the weather machine. Why did she have to choose _his_ tree to sit and sob under?! He screwed up his face in irritation; there was no way down without alerting her to his presence.

 **"** **Stephanie?!"**

Robbie's attention snapped in the direction a rough female voice came from, which was followed by rushed footsteps. Trixie and Stingy came into sight a few seconds later. He inwardly groaned. He just wanted to get down, damnit!

Stephanie turned her head in her arms to look in the direction her name had been called from, seeing Trixie and Stingy came rushing towards her, clearly concerned that their friend was out here alone.

 **"** **Stephanie, is everything alright? What are you doing out here alone? Where's Ziggy, or Sportacus?!"** Trixie sounded annoyed, ready to rip into anyone who'd been the cause of her friend to be in such a state.

 **"** **Ziggy went to sleep… Sportacus is…"** Stephanie didn't finish verbally answering, rather, she just waved a hand dismissively back towards the camp.

 **"** **Did he have to go?"** Stingy asked calmly, frowning a little when Stephanie just shrugged. **"Well, never mind all that… C'mon sweetie, up you get. We'll head back to the camp and I'll show you some of the photos I got, how does that sound?"**

Stephanie looked up at them both sadly before wiping her face free of tear stains and taking each of their hands in her own as they both held one out to her. **"I just needed to get away a bit, sorry if seeing me like that made you worry. I promise I'm OK."** She forced a smile back onto her face and squeezed their hands reassuringly. She could tell from the looks on their faces that neither of them bought it, but they also didn't argue with her, something she was appreciative of.

 **"** **Did you find any of the things you were looking for?"**

 **"** **Yeah, well sorta. Well, Trixie found it actually. It wasn't something I was specifically looking for, but it was this really small frog that's…"**

Robbie waited until their voices had faded away into the distance enough before he released a relieved, if irritated sigh, before climbing down out of the tree and making his way back to his lair. All the main controls for the weather machine were there; he wasn't going to risk being out in the chaos he was trying to create, after all.

He still found himself wondering what had caused Stephanie to come running out into the darkness like that even as he let himself back into his lair, but decided that the task at hand was more worthy of his attention than that pink-haired mess.

 **"** **Hope you brats brought floaties."** He cackled to himself as he took a seat at his workbench, where the controls for each of the nodes and the main weather machine were located. He took a loud obnoxious slurp of his soda before cracking his knuckles, then began to flick switches and twist knobs.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_ Finally the next chapter. I do apologise if it seems... messy? I took a huge chunk out of it because it just didn't fit in with what I wrote after because I haven't been able to sit down and write whole chapters at a time since moving, so some ideas changed mid-way and just got away from me. I'd also thought about having Trixie and Stingy interrupt Steph and Sportacus, but after taking out that aforementioned huge chunk, it just worked with the overall story I'm going for to do it this way. Anyway, it may be some time till the next chapter since work is piling the hours on as Christmas shopping period starts creeping closer. Someone send floaties, please. XD


End file.
